


A Wham, Bam, Shang-a-lang Kinda Thing

by saltybird



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: "Daddy" Shiro, Alternate Universe - Sex Shop, Begging, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Hypersexual lance, M/M, Manager Shiro, Pansexual Shiro (Voltron), Public Sex, Rough Sex, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension, Size Kink, Teasing, Trans Lance (Voltron), broganes, new employee lance, pidge is older than Lance is in this fic fUCK canon for today :X, shance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltybird/pseuds/saltybird
Summary: Lance has been out of a job for a while, and when push comes to shove, sometimes you get a job at your local adult superstore-- With a really hot manager.





	1. Job Hunting

**Author's Note:**

> idk guys I'm just fckin tired as hell and wanted to write a Shance fic, so here's a probably over-used Shance sex shop AU no one fuckin asked for.

 

Lance fidgeted nervously with the end of his shirt. Trying to remember to breathe out through his nose and keep it calm. His eyes passing over everything in front of him, following the frames of pictures of galaxies and space- nothing at all personal here from what he could see… He didn't know why he applied for a job here, an  _ adult _ entertainment shop… Filled with all kinds of embarrassing shit that people only use behind closed and locked doors. Not that Lance was ashamed of his own sexuality, or really grossed out by anyone else's for that matter, he was pretty chill about sex and weird kinks, as he had a few of his own that would probably be considered weird to some… But it still felt weird to be here, let alone thinking about selling silicone cocks and whatnot to strangers. What if he saw his customers out on the street one day? Would he think about that 10 inch dildo they bought a week ago if he saw them? Probably so. But he didn't even have the job yet, he had to get that first.

 

Today was just his first interview with the store manager,  _ Shino _ . He hoped it would go well enough, he really needed the job, even if it wasn’t going to be too great of a job, but this was the only place that called back after five long months of looking for one. He let a nervous puff of air out and slouched way back into the tiny guest chair, chin down on his own chest. Staring at the front of the desk. Surprisingly there were no sexy stuff on the desk either, not even as some kind of joke. And the desk was tiny as hell, with one computer monitor against the wall. The screensaver was of galaxies far away, kind of where Lance wished he was right now instead of here. And the office itself was incredibly small, but it didn't feel that cramped. Even with the walls painted a dark plum color, and dark carpet, much like the rest of the interior around the actual store, it still felt decently comfortable sitting here; if it wasn’t for his anxiety.

 

He heard the door click open behind him and he nearly launched out of the seat, his knee knocking painfully hard into the corner of the desk and he had to bite back every swear he's ever learned from his mother. Promptly turning on the opposite leg to meet the stranger— a really _really_ _hot_ _stranger._

 

His mouth gaped open a bit. No way this was the manager—? The man was tall, the kind of tall Lance really appreciated in a man, fair skin, and veeeery obviously well built under that light pink cotton shirt. Broad shoulders and long lean neck leading up to a well-sculpted jaw, full lips, and nice cheeks. Smoldering ash gray eyes fringed by lovely lashes--- well-- smoldering if they weren't looking at him like he was a goddamn idiot. And the odd hair too. Short black hair and a white forelock. Kind of odd, but even with the white patch of hair, this man couldn't have been that old.  _ No way _ he could have been that old. 30 at the most, and  _ hoooly fuck _ was he hot! Someone as good looking as that should be a model for a rich person magazine, not a manager of a little adult toy store on the side of the road, way out of the way from most of the general population.

 

When the man blinked at him and seemed to be waiting for a response other than Lance’s dumb gapping mouth, Lance stuck his hand out and clamped his mouth into a tight nervous smile.

 

"H-Hi, y-you must be Mr. Shino! I'm Lance! McClain!"

 

"It's Shiro…" the man said slowly, but his hard features softened a bit, and he shook Lance's hand almost too quickly for Lance to have noticed the contact.

 

Lance's cheeks flared at his silly mistake. He felt like a jackass for getting this handsome man's name wrong. Wasn't his fault he could hardly hear over the phone earlier… "Sh-Shiro." He mumbled. “You…You’re the manager here?”

 

Shiro nodded and hummed. “Mhm. So you're here for the job offer right?” Shiro started, walking over to the other side of the desk and sitting in the chair that looked much more comfortable than the one Lance had sat back down in. "You know it can get a bit weird working here… But of course it's just like any other retail job with the exception of the products we sell…" Shiro said, shrugging his shoulders and drumming his fingers on the desk.

 

_ No ring on the finger _ , Lance noticed... Shiro sat back against his chair and looked straight at Lance, causing Lance's face to flush. "Well, let’s get to it. Tell me why you want this job first of all?" He asked, straightforwardly.

 

Lance cleared his suddenly dry throat, flicking his eyes away after feeling suddenly embarrassed under the handsome man’s gaze. "Well, I… Really need a job for one?" Lance chuckled nervously and rubbed his hands over his knees anxiously, a habit he picked up from his sisters when he was a kid. This was a job interview, of course he was nervous, but it didn't help that this manager, his potential new boss was hot and intimidating as fuck either, with his broad shoulders and smoldering dark eyes. Who gave this man the right to be so attractive and manage a dirty place like this?

 

_ Ugh, chill out, Lance… _

 

"Is that all?" Shiro asked, and Lance stiffened in his chair, nodding his head quickly. Boy he hoped he didn't fuck up this already in just the first three minutes, he really wanted this job, especially if hotty-mchot-pants here was the boss man. Lance didn't even think it would matter if Shiro here was a dick, he would loved to get bossed around by him... Well maybe— No dick boss was ever that tolerable, even if they were hot. And with Lance’s luck, this guy probably had a shitty personality. He couldn’t tell yet, but the poor man just  _ sounded _ exhausted in his voice.

 

"Mmhm, yes sir."

 

Shiro made a face slightly and thumbed over some papers on his desk. Lance couldn't tell from what but he took that as a not so good sign. _Shit…_ _Don’t fuck this up already…_ Lance thought, shifting anxiously in his seat. "Uh, l-look, Mr. Shiro, I know I'm prooobably speaking out of line here, and this usually doesn’t go over well with people, but I'm bad at interviews like this. I really do want this job, though, I swear I hav—” Lance was cut off.

 

"Yeah, you're speaking out of turn alright." Shiro sighed and reached up to rub at his neck. "I haven't gotten many applications though, and I’m a little desperate for a new employee at the moment…"

 

"Oh…" Lance breathed, face flushing and he dropped his hands. That gave him a tad bit of hope for the job.

 

Shiro looked him over once, pursing his lip slightly. “You are over 18, right?” Shiro asked, almost looking doubtful about it.

 

Sure, Lance knew he looked a bit like a twink, but he didn’t think he looked so young enough to be second guessed about it. The girl upfront didn’t ask for an ID when he wanted in- being that this was an 18+ store only. “Uh, yeah?” Lance laughed nervously, and there was a long pause. Shiro rubbed at his temples, and when he peeked over at the papers on the desk, he realized Shiro was going over his resume.  _ Ugh… _ He almost groaned when he remembered how badly it was written. No wonder he questioned his age.

 

“So uhm…” Lance hesitated, not sure what to say, and he didn’t want to speak out of turn again for fear of being too young in his eyes and rude.

 

"So you got the job. If you really want it and think you can handle it, that is." Shiro muttered. “It’s basic, really, if you’ve ever worked in retail before. If not, I guess I have to teach you.”

 

_ Teach me what?…  _ Lance thought to himself.

 

He blinked dumbly at Shiro before he processed what was said, and he nearly jumped forward onto the desk, eyebrows nearly raised to his hairline. "Whoa! Uh- Yeah! I-I can! I’ve worked at a craft store for a few months, I-I know the basics. I really got the job?!” he questioned excitedly. “Wow, you really were that desperate? That was hardly an interview--” Lance accidentally let that slip out and he smacked his own face for utter stupidity. “Oh shit- sorry- that’s so rude— I’m just, really excited to have this job. I say dumb shit when I’m excited but I SWEAR I won’t disappoint you Mr. Shino!”

 

Shiro’s lips curled into a frown and he looked as if he made a sudden mistake. “Shiro. . .” He corrected again and stood from his chair. “I’m just going to ignore your comment for now… Can you start this week? Possibly tomorrow afternoon?”

 

“Oh yeah, tomorrow is great! You guys don’t wear uniforms right? I didn’t see the other associate who let me in here wearing one.”

 

Shiro shook his head and stepped to the side, gesturing vaguely for Lance to follow him. “No, not really. We don’t really wear name tags either, but if you get into shit with our customers, they’ll let me know, even without your name. I only have four other workers currently, we’re a bit short, but we usually have no more than nine people employed at once. We’re a small business, and closed on Mondays, and our open hours are from 2pm to 2am.” Shiro stepped out of the office, Lance following in tow.

 

“Hmm.. That’s ashame, what if someone needed lube at 10 in the morning?” Lance jested.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes at the comment. “Not really my problem-”

 

“How do you guys compete with the 24 hour stores?”

 

Shiro stopped mid stride and furrowed his brow at Lance, crossing his arms over his chest, and Lance stepped back awkwardly. Trying not gawk at the man’s hella nice biceps. The sleeves on his shirt didn’t hide the nice shape of them underneath, not one bit.

 

“You’d be pretty surprised how well we do for a small store… _ Sex sells _ .. And this company has been around forever now. Of course our prices don’t compare to your neighborhood walmart or cvs, but we have a bigger variety of…” Shiro paused, his cheeks turning a pink color and he cleared his throat. Gesturing to the table in front of them piled with all kinds of personal toys. “… _ stuff _ . And we have a personable staff. Which you’ll be a part of.”

 

Lance grinned at the little pause and obvious embarrassment that Shiro got when motioning to the _ ‘stuff’. Cute… _ So this guy did have a personality that would be fun to get to know and tease a little… Lance hummed and nodded his head thoughtfully. “Alright alright, I see. You guys ever get anyone with the really really weird fetishes?”

 

Shiro made a noise in the back of his throat and shrugged awkwardly. “I-I don’t know. We get all kinds of people. Like I said a minute ago, it can get pretty weird working here. But no sexual acts happen here-  _ at all.  _ If you see anyone being inappropriate, you throw them out. Or if someone harasses you, you come get me or our other manager to deal with them.”

 

“I can handle that- I’m a huge flirt, maybe I’ll be a hit with the customers. Who’s the other manager?” Lance rambled, glancing back down at the table with assorted boxes of personal toys, and picking up a prostate stimulator. “Hey do we get to try out the products?” he asked smirking at Shiro when Shiro gave him a ‘put that down’ look. Working here wouldn’t be  _ too  _ bad. Maybe he would get someone’s number and be asked to try out some of the stuff— off the clock of course. He heard that ‘no inappropriate stuff here’ part.

 

“Not unless you buy it and leave.” Shiro stated bluntly. “My co-manager’s name is Allura… She’s a tough girl, I wouldn’t act like a fool when working around her…” He sighed and looked over at the counter. “Florona, this is  _ Chance _ , he’s going to be your new co-worker.” Shiro mused, smirking slightly over at Lance when he mispronounced his name.

 

That was definitely a jest directed at him, Lance realized, and his cheeks burned red from the slight embarrassment. _So he’s a bit of a joker too, huh?_ _Nice._ Lance thought, remaining utterly cool now that the pretty girl who had led him to the back office was walking over to them. Long loose curly red hair framing a heart-shaped face, caramel skin and hazel eyes. She was real cute. Another one to flirt with on the clock besides the boss.

 

“Hi Chance, I’m Florona.” She chirped, and stuck her hand out promptly for him to shake. Shiro watching with a grin on his face, obviously prideful of his goof up with the name.

 

Lance ignored the look on Shiro’s face and took Florona’s hand, giving it a quick kiss and winking at her. “You misheard him, my name’s  _ Lance. _ ” He crooned. “It’ll be a pleasure working with you.”

 

Florona smiled and nodded her head. “It’s about time we have some help around here. Keith never wants to do anything here.” Florona sighed, looking unhappily at Shiro.

 

Shiro frowned. “He’s just unhappy working here.”

 

“And he  _ needs _ to just  _ quit _ at this point.” Florona muttered, before whipping around and walking back over to the counter. “It’ll be nice working with you, Lance!” she sang, waving her fingers at him as she got back in her spot, resting lazily against the counter with her elbows on the surface in front of her.

 

Lance smirked slightly too himself then looked back at Shiro. “Uh-oh… Sounds like you have a bad employee on your hands, hm?”

 

Shiro shook his head. “He just doesn’t like the atmosphere around here. He’s only working here because he couldn’t find a job anywhere else. I’m helping him out… Anyways, Lance,” Shiro changed the subject, turning and leaning towards him just slightly, looking him over with a critical stare that made Lance feel small. “I want you to be here for 1 tomorrow afternoon, okay?”

 

Lance leaned back slightly, swallowing dryly, and grinned nervously. “Ye-yeah, sure boss man.”

 

 


	2. First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm screaming from my abyss because my html won't paste over BUT OH WELL. I'd rather die than go through it rn cause guess who has work in the morning and should be in bed RIGHT NOW.
> 
> It's Lance's first day! His first day goes?!?!?! Like everyone else's first day- mildly and maybe with a few tears when you lock your fucking keys in the car before going home.
> 
> Shiro is a good dude... Thoughtful, and with tender tiddies... Sigh...

 

Lance pushed the door to his old blue VW Jetta open and nearly tumbled out with the amount of force he used. _Whoops…_ He hoped no one saw that, but he was hardly paying attention to his own actions.

 

Today was his first day, and he was here an hour before the doors opened, just like Shiro had asked him to be. There were two other cars on the side, he assumed one of them— probably the nicer of the two, the black ford fusion if he had to guess- was Shiro’s. He made a small mental note to try and learn whose car was who’s, mostly just curious to see if his guess had been right. He liked making little bets with himself, they were fun.

 

He stepped out of his old shitty little Jetta and shut the door rather loudly by accident, by the noise caused a girl- not Florona- to peek out of the glass door. She furrowed her two thick brows at him, and he waved awkwardly and walked over.

 

Shiro walked up behind her, peeking over her tall shoulder- dang, this girl was really tall, Lance noticed. Shiro smiled when he saw Lance, and he unlocked and open the door for him.

 

“Ah, you actually arrived.” Shiro mused.

 

Lance stuck his bottom lip out at him and stepped inside, nodding past the new girl he was about to introduce himself to. “Of course I did, _Mr. Shino._ ” Lance jested playfully, causing Shiro to huff and roll his eyes. “And hello to you, Miss, I’m Lance. The newbie.” He announced, sticking his hand out for hers.

 

The girl was tall and broad, but pretty with her short bob of brown hair and brown skin. And pretty round green, almost yellow eyes. She looked shy and gentle. She was _interesting,_ but in a good way… Someone he couldn’t help but think his buddy Hunk would be into if he were here to meet her… Though this probably wasn’t the perfect place to meet someone new, not in Hunk’s book, the prude.

 

The girl smiled at him shyly and dipped her head in a quick bow, but didn’t take his offered hand. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Shay.”

 

Lance put his hand back down, feeling a tad awkward about it, but he smiled back her. “Is that short for something, Shay?”

 

She shook her head. “Nope, it’s just Shay. Easy to remember, right?.”

 

Shiro straightened up next to them, eyes narrowing on Lance and crossing his arms bossily over his chest. Another nice fitting cotton shirt, Lance quickly noticed… _A very well complimentary gray too…_ Lance wondered how many people he made sigh in awe on a daily basis, or if he was wooing anyone currently… That wondering mind stopped when Shiro spoke up, gray eyes looking to Shay now.

 

“Alright, Shay, we have a boy to train until 10pm. Think we can show him the ropes in ten hours?”

 

“Oh Shiro, you act like this job is _sooo_ hard…” She drawled, rolling her eyes at him. She grabbed Lance’s shoulder unexpectedly, but her grasp was gentle as she led Lance to follow her to the counter. “He’ll be perfect here, I can tell! Come on, Lance. I’ll show you the register, then show you the different sections of the store before we open.”

 

“Okay,” Lance agreed, following her over to the lonely register. He guessed this kind of store never got busy enough for them to need two registers. That was good, Lance didn’t like his last job with the lines and lines of people coming to check out for dumb shit to make burlap mason jars and whatnot. At least he could expect to never be _that_ busy here.

 

“You know to run a register right?” Shay asked, and he just nodded to her question.

 

“Yeah I do. Say, how busy do you guys get on average around here?” Lance asked, glancing over at Shiro who still had that bossy vibe in his hips, putting his weight all on one leg with his hip out. Lance tried not to grin too much at it, but Shiro sure had a nice frame in that smoky gray button up and tight-fitting black slacks.

 

_God, who dressed this guy… This should be a sin._

 

Shiro noticed the question was directed at him and he flattened his lips into a thin line thinkingly. Casually walking over with a slower stride. “Most days we get about 60 customers, not a whole lot throughout the day. We have a ladies night once a month, which usually generates a couple dozen more people? We have a third party come in on those nights, to make things a little more fun around here for the patrons.”

 

Lance raised a brow, directing his gaze back up to Shiro’s face. “Hm, I wonder what that could be.”

 

“You’ll see soon enough.” Shay and Shiro said in unison, Shay sounding _done_ and Shiro having a smirk in his voice.

That made Lance quirk his brow again, but Shay didn’t give him any more time to question it. “Well, since you know how to work a register, let me show you where everything is at, just in case a customer asks you where something is and you don’t know…” She started, walking over to the dvd rack to the right of the counter.

 

“The dvds and magazines are over here,” She pointed over to the far wall. “Bigger toys and vibrators over there, most lubes are over in that corner closest to the counter,”

 

Lance nodded his head as she ticked things off. Most of everything was in plain sight, he didn’t think anyone would need an actual tour of this place. It might have been a superstore for this kind of business, but the store itself was pretty small. Most of everything looked like it was grouped in specifics, just like all other retail stores. Fleshlights over here, lube over there, feathers and leashes here, horrible misogynist t-shirts there, etc…

 

“Mm, I get the gist, Shay. Thanks.” He muttered.

 

“OH! And we let the customers sample lube as well—” Shay remembered.

 

“ _What_.”

 

“O-On their hands of course. That’s pretty important as a selling point here. You look like you’re good with people, are you?” she asked, tilting her head at him and looking him over, like she could _really_ tell how personable he was just by a look.

 

Lance’s forehead creased and he gave an awkward shrug of his shoulders. He could probably do that, he was flirty as hell, and liked chatting with people enough. The sampling lube thing was kinda weird though, nor was he sure how they went about that unless someone _asked._ Maybe unless it was a cute girl, or a hot as fuck guy— but he wouldn’t wanna come off as _too_ creepy, which he knew he could come off as sometimes. “That’s a little weird… Maybe? How touchy are we talking about here? Because I can do touchy and chatty pretty well, so as long as I don’t get punched in the face…”

 

“Hmm… You shouldn’t get punched in the face, if you do, I’ll throw them out…” Shiro grinned and Lance glared at him. _Wow, after the fact, huh?_

 

“Here’s how you go about this, if you see someone browsing our selection of lubes,” Shiro paused then reached for a sample bottle on the counter and stepped over Lance, grabbing his hand with a light touch that made him jump. Squirting a dime size amount of it on his wrist and slicking it up alllll too casually while maintaining a _completely_ straight face. “Just slap some on their wrist like this. Start a conversation about how good it is— if you have to, talk about how much you use it yourself…” Shiro said, gray eyes glancing up from the wrist he held, meeting Lance’s round wide embarrassed blue ones.

 

Lance’s mouth opened and closed a few times, not prepared to respond to this. He tore his eyes away from Shiro’s and yanked his wrist away from the gentle hands that were still holding his. “ _Wow,_ **_okay_ ** _!_ I-I think I got it!” He spluttered, shaking his hand and wrist as if it had been badly burned. “Th-Th-Thanks for the demonstration, _S-Shiro!_ ”

 

Shiro chuckled and threw his hands up with an innocent grin on his face. “You’re welcome. Just giving you a little _hands on_ experience.”

 

 _Oh my god._ Lance whined to himself. He could _not_ deal with this-

 

Shay giggled. “Yeah, but you can ask the customer if you don’t think they’ll react well to it. Some people get embarrassed,”

 

“Like you…” Shiro commented quietly with a smirk.

 

“ _I am_ **_not_ ** _embarrassed!!!_ ” Lance shrieked, the red cheeks and high pitch in his voice giving him well away. _Stupid voice!—_

 

“Okay okay, you two,” Shay giggled again, lightly patting Lance on the arm to get his attention. “One more thing, the showroom door is over there in the back corner, and that door **_always_ ** stays locked except for the days we have our shows, because you don’t want a clean up a mess a horny couple made when sneaking in there…” She said, her face scrunching up in disgust. Shiro’s did too and nodded his head solemnly.

 

“And _no one_ is allowed in our bathroom, either. It’s employees only.” Shiro added. “If someone asks, tell them to go to the burger king down the street.”

 

“Sounds like you guys might’ve had a few bad experiences before, huh?” Lance snickered.

 

“Yeah, and the next one that happens, you’ll be the one cleaning up after it.” Shiro retorted.

 

Lance raised his palms in an _‘I don’t care’_ shrug. _Gross,_ but he didn’t care too much about that honestly. A job was a job, and he had two older siblings and probably unknowingly touched _god-only-knows-what_ while innocently snooping through their rooms when he was younger, but he didn’t want to think about that right now.

 

“Well, Allura and Flor are closing tonight, so you’ll meet them— or Allura, rather,  when you get off work at 10, Lance.” Shiro said.

 

“Allura’s the other manager here, right?”

 

Shiro nodded his head and hummed, and leaned his hip on the counter casually. Slender build curved just right. “Mhm. Thirty more minutes until we open. You think you got this, Lance?”

 

 

—————————————

 

5PM.

 

Lance hopped up on the counter, sitting on it while he and Shay chatted. A few customers looking around behind them. He already tried the lube sampling trick on one single girl— and lucky enough to have gotten a good conversation out of her without getting the vibe that he was making her uncomfortable. He felt pretty good about that interaction, she even bought the lube he sampled on her, and Shiro had seen it as well and approved of it with a thumbs up. But now Shiro was in his office, and it was just him and Shay up front.

 

“So who’s everyone that works here that I haven’t met yet?” Lance asked, swinging his legs absently.

 

Shay pursed her lips. “Have you met Florona?”

 

“Yeah. I met her yesterday.”

 

She nodded her head. “Well, you’ve met me, Shiro obviously. . . Florona. . . Uhm…” She had to think. “There’s Keith too, but who knows if you’ll ever meet him honestly. He hates being here and is _always_ late. The only reason he has a job here is because he and Shiro are close somehow- but I don’t really know what that’s about. And then there’s Allura, the co-manager that you’ll be able to meet before you go home tonight, and there’s Pidge. But she’s nearly the same boat as Keith, except she’s usually here on time more than he is…”

 

“Ah, so I’ll probably only meet one out of those three…” He shrugged.

 

Shay shrugged too. “Probably so, unless you’re lucky.”

 

“Sounds more like I’d be _unlucky_ to meet them…” He snorted. “Any customers should I be wary of while I’m here?”

 

Shay blinked and flattened her mouth into a tight line. “Uhm, well, there are a few who might bother you… There’s these men who come in from time to time- I’m not sure where they’re from but I think they run some kind of brothel. They’re weird and might try to get with you, but either Shiro or Allura can handle the creeps if they bother you… One of them was banned from the store, but I don’t know the details.”

 

“That serious, huh?”

 

Shay just lifted her shoulders in a shrug and left it at that. Lance didn’t ask anymore of the clientele, figuring he’s get a full taste of it soon enough. He was a little interested in the more flirty and open people- they would make the time here more fun.

 

“So Shay, what about yourself? How long have you been working here?” He asked, tapping her with his foot.

 

“Since May. Shiro was kind enough to schedule around my other job, so this works out well for me.” She said with a smile. “Shiro is really kind, Allura is too, but she can be more of a tight-ass than he is.”

 

“Oooh, I like a strict girl if yo-” he started teasing.

 

“Ewww, Lance!!!” Shay whined, shoving him lightly and he laughed and threw his hands up defensively.

 

“I’m just sayin- if a girl wants to yell at me, I’m all down for it!”

 

“I don’t need to know that!” She squawked and covered her face. “You’re my co-worker!”

 

“I’m kiiiidding— Kinda-”

 

Shiro stepped around the corner then and nodded his head at Lance. “Hey, you can take a lunch now if you want. Don’t forget you gotta punch out if you leave.”

 

“Oh,” Lance blinked and hopped down off the counter. “Yeah actually food sounds great right now. I didn’t bring lunch though…”

 

“There’s a burger king down the street,” Shiro and Shay said in unison. Lance made a face at that, though he probably didn’t have much of a choice. It was one shitty fast food place or the next, or just skipping one meal entirely. He could probably run home for lunch, but he didn’t want to waste gas like that.

 

Shiro went back into his office without another word, and Lance tilted his head to Shay. “Well, I’m gonna take my lunch. I’ll be back.” He waved at her and walked over to their punch on the wall to clock out before walking out. Walking over to his car, shoving a hand into his pocket, digging for his keys and phone out hastily before he yanked open the driver door. He tossed his phone over to the passenger seat and plopped down.

 

_Guess burger king it is…_

 

—————————————

 

9:48pm.

 

The store was starting to pick up with horny couples who must’ve dropped off their kids to their grandparents, and lonely folk looking around for things to help them pass the time on the a lonesome Wednesday night. It had been a long day, but Lance only had twelve minutes left of his shift now, and according to Shiro, the famous _Allura_ would be waltzing in any second now. He was looking forward to that, after hearing so much about her today.

 

Shay said she was gorgeous, and had attitude. Lance could really respect that in a woman, and he was looking forward to leaving a great first impression on her— if he wasn’t mildly sweating it out over how to introduce himself.

 

The door chimed open, signaling that another customer had just walked in, and he peeked up with Shay. He was the only one to say their greeting ‘ _welcome to the_ ** _lion’s den_** _.’_ when the beauty with long flowing white hair and flawless ebony skin strut in, giving a short wave over to Shay before making her way over to Shiro with her long sexy stride. Pink heels on, head held high, and hair pinned away from her mature face. She was so stunning— And Lance said that about every girl- but this woman could quite literally step on his throat if she wanted to, and he wouldn’t have done a _damn_ thing against that.

 

“Good evening Miss Allura.” Shay said.

 

_Holy shit— Was this Allura?? THE Allura?!_

 

_No way— no no no no no noooo way—_

Not only did he have to deal with one hot manager, but TWO. How was he supposed to survive this job?! Being surrounded by tempting sex objects and hot people?!

 

“Hey ‘Lura…” said Shiro, chewing past the red hot cube pop in his mouth. Lance had chosen to ignore the sight and sound of him sucking on that thing, for obvious reasons… Shiro straightened up from his casual lean against the wall and motioned at Lance. “This is our new cashier, _Chance._ He’s about to get off work, but I’m glad you can introduce yourself to him. Lance, this is Allura, your other manager.”

 

Allura gave him a once-over and quirked a thin brow at Lance. “Is it Lance or Chance?”

 

Lance blushed and shot a glare at Shiro for doing that to him. “H-Hi, T-The name’s _Lance_.” He stuttered, shoving his hand out for hers.

 

She took it in an unexpected tight grasp and gave it an equally rough shake once. He thought she was about to pull him down- but he would have been fine with that if that had been what she done. “Nice to meet you, I hope you enjoy working here with us.” Is all she said to him before she turn back to the equally beautiful person as her, Shiro. “Is Flor closing with me tonight? Please tell me it’s Flor and not Pidge or Keith—” She sighed, exasperated. “I can’t deal with them… I can deal with Pidge more than Keith, though.”

 

Shiro’s face flushed and he nodded his head, taking the sucker out of his mouth. “Yeah, It’s you and Flor tonight. Are you fine with that? You know I get wary leaving you and one of our other girls alone on the graveyard shift…”

 

“I can handle it,” Allura retorted. “Go home Shiro, you look exhausted.” She reached up and pat his cheek gently before waving at Lance and Shay and walking to the office.

 

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and Shay leaned into his space slightly. “She’s right Shiro, you look tired. You work a lot here.”

 

Shiro hummed and shrugged noncommittally. “I know, I know. I need to hire an assistant manager too, but I don’t trust anyone…”

 

Shay just smiled and pat his arm. “Go home for the night, Mr Shiro.”

 

Shiro strained a smile at her and nodded before sighing, “You get out of here too when Florona gets here… Come on Lance, you can punch out and go home if you want.”

 

Lance blinked then nodded absently. “Sure… Goodnight Shay! Great working with you today!”

 

“Yeah, same to you, Lance! You did well, you fit right in.” Shay winked and elbowed Shiro lightly. Shiro snickered and gave her a knowing smirk.

 

Lance beamed and gave them both a thumbs up before shambling to the back to punch out. Yeah! He did good on the first day, and even the hot boss thought so! But it wasn’t like this job was overly hard anyways, but it was always an accomplishment to impress the boss man. He punched out his time card and went outside. The air was chilly now that night had fallen, a light cool breeze blowing his hair. Damn, he almost forgot outside was a thing after being inside for almost ten hours straight, with little to no windows around the shop.

 

He walked to his car, reaching his pocket for his keys— no keys. He blinked and patted all of his pockets, front to back. _Shiiiit—_ No phone _or_ keys.

 

His breath hitched in his throat slightly but he stuffed whatever amount of panic that had begun to bubble down. “Okay, Okay, It’s okay… I’m sure I left the car unlocked…” He mumbled to himself stepping over to the door. Shiro had walked out then, giving a wave and a smile.

 

“Goodnight, Lance. See you tomorrow.” He called, walking over to his own car. The black ford fusion, Lance confirmed with himself before focusing on the situation again.

 

He winced when he pulled at his car door handle, realizing it was locked and he left the keys in the car. Right in plain sight no less, on the passenger seat, with his phone.

 _Shit…_ He went over to the other side and pulled at that handle, but that was of no avail, either. “Uhm… Shiro…” He said slowly, glancing back pleadingly at Shiro who was getting into his own car. Hoping he wouldn’t leave yet and leave him to deal with this out on his own. He was bad at dealing with these type of situations, he never knew what to do, especially without his phone. Not like he could call a locksmith. Though, he couldn’t really afford a locksmith right now, no unnecessary bills if avoidable… But if he had his phone, _or remembered his housemate’s number off hand_ , this wouldn’t be such a problem right now.

 

Shiro paused and looked over, furrowing his brow in concern. “What’s wrong, Lance?”

 

“I locked my keys in my car…And my phone.” Lance muttered sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck, still trying to suppress the small panic, even though now it was trying to come out from his eyes in tears. _No no no- no you don’t… Not in front of your boss, you loser_ _McClain…_ He sighed to himself.

 

Shiro chuckled to himself before he got out his car and trotted over. “Want me to call a pop a lock?” He asked, tilting his head with a stupidly frustrating charming smile.  

 

“No! No— I -” Lance stopped, swiping at his face and turning away from Shiro quickly, glancing at his reflection to make sure no frustration tears had escaped. God he _hated_ that- his stupid uncontrollable emotions. “I’d rather that be last resort, I don’t need another bill right now. Uhm- I know I have a spare key at home, but I don’t remember my housemate’s number off hand…heh...” Lance chuckled nervously. He felt sooo dumb right now. In front of Shiro too…

 

“Oh… I can drive you to your place so you can get your spare key and come back?” Shiro offered. “Unless you can’t get into your house either?..”

 

Lance blinked and raised his brows curiously. “You’d do that for me?”

 

“Sure, unless you live like twenty miles away.” Shiro snickered.

 

Lance sighed and let his shoulders drop in relief. _God bless Shiro honestly_ … _good looking and nice._ “No, only about 6. I-I can work the extra hours too, to make up for this—”

 

“That’s not really necessary, unless you need more hours?..  Anyways, come on, I’ll take you to get your keys, Lance.” Shiro said, patting Lance on the shoulder and walking back over to his car.

 

“Heh, I won’t complain if I get them…” Lance muttered, following Shiro over to the car. Even in the dark light, Lance could tell this car was pretty new, and utterly clean too. Much better than his own pile of shit Jetta… He was about to open the door to the backseat, his cheeks flushing suddenly, realizing he was about to be alone in a car, alone, with Shiro, his hot as fuck _boss._ For around 32 odd minutes, if this was going to be a trip there and back. He watched Shiro climb in his seat and start the car before he could move again. Opening the back passenger side door and climbing in quietly. Feeling his cheeks grow hot with the awkwardness of getting a ride from his _boss. Wow…_ Maybe if Shiro wasn’t actually his boss, he would feel a little more lucky right now to be in a car with him, but he was afraid it was going to be really awkward.

 

Maybe the backseat wasn’t the best, because their wasn’t that much leg room, and it made sitting in the backseat that much more awkward. He was thankful for second he didn’t wear his packer today, otherwise it would have felt weird between his legs with how scrunched he was.

 

Shiro glanced back with a raised brow. “You can sit in the front if you want.” He said, like he was reading Lance’s mind.

 

Lance flattened his lips, fidgeting his his seat. It felt like he was going through his interview again from yesterday. “A-are you sure?..”

 

Shiro shrugged with a small smile that Lance noticed from the rearview mirror. “Well, that’s up to you, I just offered…”

 

Lance stuck his lip out in a small pout, disappointed it was left up to his own decision before he finally made it and scrambled out of the back seat to get into the front. “…Thanks… Really…” Lance murmured, rubbing his neck bashfully and keeping his eyes on the passenger window, to avoid eyes with Shiro. “I really don’t mind the extra hours either, if that’s something that’s okay? I really liked working today, you and Shay are nice. Miss Allura seems nice too.”

 

He saw Shiro nod his head out of the corner of his eye, and Shiro backed the car out of the parking lot smoothly. This car was much smoother than his own, Lance noticed, suddenly dreaming of getting a better car one day soon. That was a short lived dream though, he had other things to be invested in.

 

“Everyone here is nice, I only hire the best…” Shiro chuckled, and for some reason Shiro saying that made him blush. “If you really want the extra hours, just say so. It would really work out, since I have two employee’s that I’m sure would appreciate _less_ of them… Where do you live?”

 

Lance hummed and leaned his head on the window, glancing at Shiro for a quick second. “Yeah, I do. It would help out a lot… Do you know where the Seabrook subdivision is? That’s where I’m at.”

 

“I do. …I forgot to ask yesterday during the interview, but you don’t have a second job do you? Of course it’s fine if you do, asking for scheduling purposes.” Shiro muttered. It was quiet in the car. Shiro had the radio on, but it was really low, and they were talking as quietly as the melody now.

 

Lance shook his head and looked back out the window, watching the road curve as Shiro drove. Shiro was probably one of those really safe drivers if he had to guess. He didn’t look over to notice, but Shiro was definitely going the speed limit, maybe even under, but it was 10 at night and this felt safest, honestly. _Weird._ “Nope… No other job. I kinda struggled to find a job after my last one…”

 

“Oh…” Shiro said quietly and Lance nodded again.

 

“Stupid shitty Christian company…” Lance muttered under his breath, too low for Shiro to hear. “I can’t thank you enough for the job, honestly, Mr. Shiro.”

 

“Just Shiro is fine…”

 

“Okay, Shino…” Lance poked, grinning.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road ahead expertly, but Lance was still getting to him, he could tell by the quirk at the corner of his lips. “Alright, _Chance…_ ” He gritted, though the malice wasn’t there in his voice. Lance figured he was incapable of that, and imagined him as some sort of teddy bear or giant fuzzy dog that was all bark and zero bite.

 

So by now he ruled out that Shiro was one of those bosses that couldn’t be tolerated just because he was hot, because Shiro defiantly was tolerable. Likable too, for two notable reasons so far.  Lance squeezed his eyes shut, listening to the lull of the car’s engine as Shiro drove, and what little he could hear of Shiro’s breath next to him. It was more distracting the more Lance tried not to think about who was next to him, but also trying not to be rude to Shiro either, especially after this kind act; but Shiro was quiet, and Lance didn’t feel the vibe that he needed to keep up a conversation. He was thankful for that too, since he was a bit tired after 10 hours of work and didn’t feel like being chatty… He was sure Shiro was tired too, though…

 

“Hey… What time do you need me for work tomorrow?” Lance asked quietly, lifting his head and glancing at Shiro.

 

Shiro glanced at him too, then his eyes went back to the dim road in front of them, hand on the wheel. He was slouched back comfortably and looked like he could sleep there. _He was tired…_ Lance definitely agreed.

 

“Want to work the late shift next? 7pm-2am? Six hours good to you? I’ll be closing tomorrow too since Allura is closing tonight…” Shiro sighed, rubbing his face roughly with his free hand. “You might like the late shift more than opening, it’s usually busier, more interesting people come in.”

 

“You tryna hook me up here, Shiro?”

 

“Wha—? N-No no. You’ll be working not flirting… Uh— Not fl-flirting for your own benefit, but for business.” Shiro spluttered awkwardly, his brows furrowed on his face.

 

“Suuure,” Lance drawled with a grin. “That’s fine… You saw me work my charm on those select few customers.”

 

“ _’Select_ **_few_ ** _’ ._ ” Shiro jabbed dryly.

 

Lance crossed his arms melodramatically and _hmph’d_. “Whatever— Just you wait and see, I have the sex appeal of a Greek god.” Lance bit, still pouting.

 

Shiro just rolled his eyes at that comment, hurting Lance’s ego just a tiny bit.  “Alright, _Eros_ , what street?”

 

“Eight streets back… My house is halfway down the street.”

 

 

—————————————

 

 

Lance banged on the door until Hunk opened it. He glared at Lance when he swung the door open.

 

“Buddy, don’t you have keys? We have neighbors right next door.” Hunk sighed. “Where were you? I tried calling you earlier to see when you’d be home.”

 

Lance stepped past him and shrugged. “Locked my phone and keys in the car, sorry. I got a ride from my boss to get my spare keys.” Lance explained as he went to his room to fetch the spare key to his car.

 

Hunk followed behind him, stopping in the doorway to watch Lance, brow going up curiously when he said _boss_. “Whoa, wait- when did you get a job? Th-that’s great, buddy! How come you didn’t tell me?!”

 

“Today was just the first day, he hired me yesterday. He’s real cute, if you wanna see him he’s outside in his car…” Lance grinned to himself. He knew Hunk was curious now, but too shy to go out and peek himself.

 

“Oh… Okay. Where’s the job at? You need to tell me these things- I would hate for you to get kidnapped or something and me not know the last place you’ve been or something!”

 

“I’m not going to get kidnapped, gees, Hunk… You know that little shop on Voltron street, the Lion’s Den? That’s where.”

 

Hunk made a face. “At a sex shop?” Hunk sighed. “I guess I expect that from you-”

 

“ _Hey_ , you know it.” Lance said dryly, shrugging partially at the comment. “I was desperate, okay? I applied for everywhere I could and they were the first and only one to call me back about an interview. You know how hard it is around here. But anyways— It’s actually a really nice place, I’m telling you. The boss is a real cutie, and he’s nice too.” Lance said, stepping around Hunk.

 

“Well I’m glad he was nice enough to help you out tonight…” Hunk mumbled, following Lance to the door. He peeked past Lance’s shoulder to the parked car out in front. He vaguely saw the silhouette of the mysterious man. “Don’t you know my number? You could’ve called me, I would have picked you up.”

 

Lance stopped in the door way, glancing at Hunk. “I know buddy… I’m awful at remembering numbers though, remind me to tattoo it on my arm.” He snickered, and stepped out with a wave behind him. “I’ll be back shortly, don’t lock me out!”

 

Hunk snorted and rolled his eyes. “At least call me when you’re on your way back.”

 

——————————————

 

The ride back with Shiro was nice, they talked casually with one another the whole time, quietly and making a few playful jabs at each other until Shiro dropped him off by his car, even waiting to drive off until after Lance was safely in his car. It was a little less fun being alone in a car, Lance noticed and sighed quietly. Picking his phone up finally after pondering the day a little more, about a quarter of the way home. He called Hunk just as he had asked, humming along with Hunk catchy little ringback and tapping his thumbs along the beat on his steering wheeling.

 

“Hey butt-munch, I’m on my way home. I wasn’t kidnapped by my hot as fuck boss unfortunately.” Lance snickered into the receiver. He could practically hear the eyeroll Hunk had just given him from the other end of the line.

 

“Yeah? Well that’s good, buddy. I’d miss your company if he took you.”

 

Lance hummed and relaxed back into his seat. “Awww, babe, that’s so nice of you to say.” He teased, knowing saying stuff like that flustered his friend. It was a miracle Hunk still was his friend after all the shit he put him though— The keeping him housed without rent and fed for free a lot of the times— That’s why he needed the job so badly, so he could pay the debt that Hunk claimed he didn’t have. He didn’t know what he would do without Hunk after all this, didn’t know how to repay him either. It’s not like Hunk ever asked him for anything- not even a blow job or any kind of sexual favor— the guy was just way too patient with him, honestly. Like a saint. He felt guilty for not giving Hunk anything in return for everything, but it was hard when he never asked or complained- only worried… Lance sighed in thought- Hunk not having responded on the other end. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, okay?”

 

“Okay…”

 

                                                       ——————————————

 

                                                                                 *

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do y'all know how hard it was for me not to have Lance and Shiro fuck in the front seat of this chapter becos i must have rewrote this a million times honestly. We'll try some build up first ahahaha


	3. First Week, First Day Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets Shiro's number? Lance gets Shiro's number.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow man, this chapter originally had a lot more planned, but I ended up taking it out because I felt like it would have been a little rushed/ not fitting after the Hance-y scene at the end. owo so now the good stuff is gonna be pushed back another chapter, and I'm thinking about adding two more chapters(still debating that) to add to the amount of shance moments 8)
> 
> P.S. we aren't going to count the monday he had off since the store is closed mondays ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 

It’s already been one full week since Lance started working here, at the Lion’s Den with Shiro and the rest. It’s been pretty normal for a job, energetic still even with lesser amount of customers Lance was used to, but he liked it. He was more comfortable around the customers here, because honestly they were nicer… And whenever they weren’t, Shiro or Allura were there to give them that intimidating ‘ _ leave my cashier alone _ ’ stare. Allura was good at that look, and it seemed that  _ no one _ wanted to mess with her. She might have even been a little notorious with some of the customers, Lance had to guess from one occasion the other day, how the man had come in, seen Allura, then left immediately. She wouldn’t answer what it was about.

 

She also wasn’t the absolute friendliest to him, not quite as gentle spoken to him as Shiro was, but Lance didn’t mind that. He liked that about Allura, found that it was something attractive about her, but he quickly learned to leave her alone after his attempt to flirt with her two nights ago went incredibly awkward. She turned him down hard, and in front of a customer too, but he couldn’t even be mad about it. Just a little embarrassed.  

 

He leaned lazily on his elbows over the counter, swaying his hips behind him as he watched a young couple across the store browse the toys. It was slow right now, since Shiro had him working the opening shift and it was only 3:30… He was disappointed to learn that Shiro was working the opposite shift as him today too, probably only getting an hour or two to be with him before his shift was over… Though, he could always stick around if he really wanted, but he didn’t want to look desperate or lonely or something, though he shamefully loved Shiro’s attention and company when they worked together.

 

It was a hell of a lot of effort not to lock his keys in his car again, after how great it’s been getting to know Shiro little bit by little bit over the last week. Fun to flirt with too, though he wasn’t sure how much that was working with him. He couldn’t tell.

 

 

“Today’s been a week since you started, hasn’t it?” Allura asked suddenly, disrupting his thoughts. She was leaning against the corner behind the counter, flipping through a vogue magazine or something. Definitely not one of their dirty mags here.

 

Lance hummed and picked his head up slightly, shooting a quick look back at her. “Yeah… It has,” He muttered, sighing again and stretching on his toes, furthering himself across the counter on his stomach. Surprised Allura hadn’t scolded him for it. “I like working here. Wish the pay was better though,” He said honestly.

 

Allura quirked her brow and shut her magazine over her thumb to keep her place. Looking over at Lance with an exasperated face. “Don’t we all, Lance. It’s a little difficult for us to give raises without a surplus of business, and you wouldn’t be the first to get a raise.”

 

“Maybe so… But faster than those other two workers, huh?” He retorted snarkily and Allura flattened her mouth into a line.  _ He got her there _ . He still hadn’t even met them— Well, actually, he did meet the  _ Pidge _ for like 5.5 seconds the other night, but she was out the door as soon as he clocked in. He thought it was a little rude of the short goblin not to introduce herself but he just shrugged that interaction aside. No use holding a grudge against someone you didn’t know.

 

“Maybe…” Allura muttered. “You’ve been doing well so far, Shiro seems to think pretty highly of you—”

 

Lance interrupted her, “He does??”

 

She glared at him for that and ignored his question. “… We’ve had a plus in our sales this week. I don’t know what you’ve been doing—”

 

“Oh, just the lube sampling trick Shiro taught me— and  _ lots _ of good inappropriate flirting with the lonely singles. You’d be surprised how curious straight old men look at a twink like me. Why do you think I wore those hot pants Saturday night? I know how to get  _ business. _ ”

 

Allura rolled her eyes. “I guess you’re pretty decent with customer service, but you know you’re not supposed to advance with any customers right? We aren’t a whore house like Mr. Zarkon’s establishment. Not that I have anything against that kind of business, being that we aren’t entirely too far from the concept I guess— but we supply, not act. I don’t want you giving any of our customers the idea that they’ll be teased and flirted with here to get their rocks off, because management has to deal with those situations if they ever get out of hand… That’s why we only host a few shows a month with a third party, and they’re relatively clean shows. No touching, no masturbation happening… or  _ supposed  _ to be happening…” Allura paused, “It’s more like a— viewing only thing. Get hard and go home kind of thing.”

 

“ _ Snoooore fest _ ,” Lance yawned dramatically. “I know you guys are like the clean tapes of the sex industry, but some times it doesn’t hurt to promote a little more than just toys and girls dancing or whatever-  people like a little less rules and regulations, and the intimacy from other humans.”

 

Allura groaned. “I know- but we have standards to keep our workers here safer, especially while we’re so understaffed. If you have that kind of mind set, why didn’t you apply for a job at the brothel? You would probably do wonderful there.”

 

Lance pursed his lips together, not so sure how he should take that comment coming from Allura. “Okay, I see the point…” Lance mumbled. “…I’m a little promiscuous, sure, but I wouldn’t sell myself...”

 

Allura nodded. “Neither would anyone else here. We only sell toys, not intimacy or anything else. Our shows are just. . .”

 

“Boring.”

 

“-  _ Entertaining _ .”

 

Lance pushed himself up off the counter and switched to sit on it, arms crossed over his chest and brow cocked at his manager. “You guys need better business, seriously… A clean dance for thirty minutes from some group once a month can’t possibly bring you guys that much revenue. You guys need to spice it up and get dirty. I know that show room used to see hotter things”

 

Allura’s face flushed and she covered her face in her hand with an exasperated sigh. “Why are we talking about this? Something like this is none of your business, you don’t tell your managers how to run theirs.”

 

“Fine fine— be the old boring granny sex company forever.”

 

Her face went red with irritation then, and she turned and stormed to the office, leaving Lance to just roll his eyes and turn back to the rest of the store. Not caring about the topic anymore. Allura was right, it really wasn’t his business.

 

—————————————

 

Shiro came in for his shift after 5. Walking over to Lance while he was straightening the shelves of high-priced items behind the counter. Shiro grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden touch on his should. He hadn’t even heard the chime for the door he was so zoned out, nor anyone walk up behind him, but he relaxed when he saw it was just Shiro. The hand on his shoulder less intimidating now that he knew who it belonged to.

 

“Hey, I have to talk to you.”

 

“Wha— Uh- Hey to you too, Shiro. What’s up, boss man?” Lance mumbled, rubbing a hand over his chest, still trying to get his heart to slow back down from the minor fright. 

 

“In the office…” Shiro muttered lowly, dropping his hand from his shoulder and gesturing him to follow with the nod. 

 

Lance glanced around, suddenly nervous.  _ Aw shit… _ Did he get in trouble with Allura?  He followed Shiro into the office after a moment of hesitation. “…Uh… How are you today, Shiro?” Lance asked awkwardly, trying to fill the silence since Shiro wasn’t.

 

Shiro sat down at his desk. “I’m good…” Shiro murmured quietly, polite enough to not brush Lance off. “Sit down, please. You’re okay…” 

 

Lance obeyed and sat down quickly. “Uhm… So what’s this about?”

 

Shiro took a deep breath in through his nose before leaning back in his chair, intense ash eyes on Lance. “Allura called me earlier. Said you two were talking about business-”

 

“She said ‘ _ talking _ ’? She seemed too mad to have called it that.”

 

Shiro raised a brow like that surprised him. “..She said  _ talking… _ ” He answered slowly, before continuing with what he was saying before Lance interrupted. “How we should do more or different shows… Not be so much of a stick in the mud company so to speak,”

 

Lance nodded slowly, finding the inside of his lip between his own teeth now in his nervousness. “Yeah, I was just saying maybe it would help business a little bit. More advertising— for the products too— but I was just saying that… I know it’s a mess for you guys or whatever, she told me it would be.”

 

“Not if we did it  _ right…  _ I do agree with you, I do.” Shiro said, rubbing at his neck, glancing away. “It is a little more complicated than I wished it was. I’d still need more employees, hire another third party for the shows— etcetera…A lot of money before we make money… But I think this is a good idea and we could make it work around here… Compete with Zarkon’s company a bit-”

 

Lance raised a brow. “I thought he ran a brothel? You can’t really compete with someone that’s in a different playing field.”

 

“No, he owns an adult store too, a few of them. I normally try not to care about it, but he has taken some of our business.”

 

“I thought you said you guys did pretty well—”

 

“We do, just not as much business as we used to have.”

 

“Oh, well…” Lance paused, scratching his head. “I know you aren’t interested in anything too hardcore here,” Lance said, bouncing his crossed leg while he thought. “You can still have a lot of regulations still, the no touching the dancers or actors for one… Or you could find a party that was okay with it if an extra fee was paid for it. Stuff that the shop could get a small percentage of since the acts happen here-”

 

“Sounds a lot like a strip club or whore house if you ask me.” Allura said from the doorway. He didn’t even notice she was there, but he should have guessed she would be ease dropping. “I thought we didn’t want to go that route, or get that complicated… That’s not exactly how my father ran the business.”

 

Lance quirked a brow at that. So  _ Allura _ owned the business…huh. “It’s not your daddy’s business in this economy, sugar.” Lance jested, probably not the smartest thing to do…

 

Allura scowled at the back of his head. “Do not call me that. This really isn’t your business.”

 

Lance raised his hands defensively. “I just want a better paycheck— Heck, I know I said I wouldn’t sell myself, but I would be willing to do a show, grinding on a stranger can’t be too bad.”

 

Shiro made a face and frowned deeply. “No, you don’t need to be associated with that…” Shiro muttered.

 

“I’d get tips-”

 

“Lance…” Shiro nearly pleaded, frowning heavily. “I— I’m not sure about that—”

 

“What? Why not?”

 

Shiro blinked, his face flushing slightly. “What I—” He shook his head at Lance, his tone of voice changing and he straightened his posture into something more hard-ass boss like. “You’re employed under my business, you weren’t hired to be a dancer.”

 

Lance pouted at the tone Shiro used and slouched back into his chair.  _ Don’t argue with the boss daddy… _

“Okay okay…” Lance backed down, pushing himself up out of his chair. “I’ll let the managers talk about this, I’m going to go back to the register, since that’s what I was hired to do.” He sassed, brushing past Allura. Feeling the two sets of eyes follow him until he was back at his counter to pout by himself. He didn’t want to disappoint Shiro, but dancing would’ve been fun, and he probably would have made a decent amount in tips, but Shiro said no and that was that. God only knew how long he would be stuck at minimum wage. Sure, he was grateful for the job and for Shiro but he did face the reality that he would probably need a second job if nothing ever picked up. Shiro mentioned that the mysterious Zarkon man had a sex shop as well, maybe he could try there; even though that would probably be wrong of him to work for a competitor company too… It was just a thought.

 

 

—————————————

 

7pm came around finally, and he’d be getting off as soon as his relief came. Which by the looks of it, wasn’t Shay or Flor since they were usually well on time and would have been here by now. At least if it were that Pidge creature or Keith guy he’d finally get to introduce himself and meet them- not run out like Pidge had done that day. He surely wasn’t that rude, and he was curious about his other coworkers. He heard a few things about them, but nothing ever too amazing, or even personal. He wanted his own opinion on them, outside of their work ethics he’d been told about.

 

Shiro’s cell phone rang and he sighed heavily before answering it without a hello. That kind of surprised Lance, since Shiro really seemed like the nicest guy on the planet- unable to be rude even when he was most aggravated. “Keith, you better not be calling in this late…”

 

Ah, so it was the Keith guy coming in tonight, and Keith who didn’t get a kind hello from Shiro on the phone. Lance didn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but Shiro gave a ‘Fine. Okay, see you soon.’ and then hung up. He looked at Lance. “You don’t mind staying a few minutes later, do you?..”

 

“No, not at all.” Lance purred. Leaning his hip against the counter and eying Shiro up. They both stared at each other for a moment before Shiro cleared his throat and looked away to watch the customers, making Lance frown to himself. If ever he caught Shiro staring at him, like  _ really _ staring, the kind of staring he was hoping to get from Shiro, he would avert his eyes as soon as Lance noticed. Like he was shy about checking someone out. It was frustrating, but maybe that would change with more time. He sighed, and looked Shiro from head to toe, as he usually did whenever he was around. Always having fun noticing the minor things about him— or letting his imagination run wild with ‘hey, what’s under these?’. He looked good today, as usual. 

 

——

 

It was nearly Eight o’clock before the door finally chimed and someone walked in saying “I’m here.” in a croaky voice. The owner of the voice walking over to the counter and slinging a backpack on the counter, not even taking a glance up at Lance- though he probably couldn’t see through that shaggy ass mullet over his eyes anyway. 

 

“Uh- excuse you, are you returning something?” Lance asked, squinting at the bag on his counter, hesitant to touch it, since it looked like it’s seen many better days, plus god only knew what could’ve been in there, if he _ was _ returning something. He was hesitant to learn that some people  _ did _ return used toys, but he hadn’t had anyone do that to him yet.

 

“What? Uh— No…? I work here.” The guy looked up, a thick brow raised, and gray eyes like Shiro’s searched over him. “You’re new? ..I’m Keith.” He muttered.

 

“ _ Oh,  _ so you’re  _ the  _ Keith huh? The name’s Lance.” Lance grinned, leaning on his elbows across the counter nonchalantly as he did half the day. Keith didn’t seem too bad, he was kind of cute too, like the twink version of Shiro with a bad mullet or something. Shay did say Shiro and this Keith guy were related somehow, maybe they were brothers. Kind of looked like it, but he wasn’t going to ask.

 

Keith moved his bag away from Lance before turning his head in Shiro’s direction, where he was straightening shelves by himself. “Shiro, when did you hire someone new?”

 

“Since two of my employees hated coming to work when I asked…” Shiro deadpanned, and strolled over. “This is Lance, you should be thankful to meet him. He’s the reason you’ll finally have less hours.”

 

“Oh, thank fucking  _ lord _ .” Keith said, dropping his head back in relief. “I’m going to clock in.” He said and walked to the back. 

 

Lance watched the new guy- or new to him walk off, humming silently to himself. “Heard a lot about him… Why does he hate it here?” he asked

 

Shiro rubbed at the back of his neck and shrugged slightly. “Keith’s just not into this scene. He needed a reference for a job, but couldn’t get that without the experience so we helped him out. That’s why he’s here…”

 

Keith walked back into the front of the store after he clocked in, gesturing for Lance to move from his spot behind the counter. “You don’t have to keep talking about me, I’m here now.” Keith said, glaring over at Shiro. 

 

“Are you?” Shiro teased, chuckling when Keith threw a pen at him. He chewed his lip slightly, looking over at Lance. “Are you going home now, Lance?” Shiro asked, something in his tone sounding unsure.

 

“Mm, I think so, boss… Unless you want me to stay?” 

 

Shiro looked down at the ground and shrugged slightly. “Nah, it’s fine. Enjoy your night Lance… You have tomorrow off.”

 

“Oh,” Lance blinked and rubbed at his mouth. “I don’t know what I’ll do with my spare time, Shiro,” he sighed melodramatically and draped himself across the counter with his head back, back of hand pressed against his forehead for that extra dramatic demonstration. “You’ve worked me like a  _ dog _ this week.”

 

Keith made a face at him for draping himself on the counter like some kind of fool. “Shiro, what kind of idiot did you hire-”

 

“Says the guy with an awful mullet— no offense, it’s not your fault you trusted your hairstylist a little too much.”

 

“Fuck you, asshole.” Keith bit. No real anger in the retort. They’d get along just fine, probably.

 

Shiro snorted with a laugh and walked over to the counter, leaning down to be level with Lance, though he was upside down. Lance’s eyes shamefully following the noticeable bulge that was level with his face before Shiro’s was. He blinked embarrassed and cleared his throat before he locked eyes with Shiro- totally playing his ogling of Shiro’s real decent hidden package off. 

 

“Hey… Give me your number,” Lance whispered, his cheeks still pink from his own pervertedness, and he was a little shocked at himself he’d even asked Shiro for his number, but it just kind of popped out. “… Uhm— because if I’m not here to bother you, then I’ll do it from outside of work-”

 

Shiro blinked, and his cheeks went a soft shade of pink now too. His mouth opening and closing dumbly- at a loss of what to say and he stood back up straight. Lance rolled back around on the counter and sat up, scooting over to the edge.

 

“Seriously, give me your number.. I’ll make it worth it that you did.” 

 

A customer cleared their throat behind Shiro timidly and gestured to get to the counter, Shiro stepped back out of the way quickly. Lance hopped off and stepped over to him. The height difference between them noticeable when Lance had to tilt his own chin up to search Shiro’s face. Wondering if asking was a lost cause, but Shiro turned his head away shyly before he mumbled an answer.

 

“Sure, give me your phone…”

 

Lance beamed and did a small hop in his feet before grabbing his phone out of his pocket and practically shoving it at Shiro. “Yay! I promise I won’t bother you too much!”

 

Shiro hummed, giving him a ‘ _ Suuure you won’t _ .’ glance while plugging his numbers into Lance’s phone. “Don’t text me at 3 am.” He said with a small smirk before handing Lance his phone back.

 

Lance grinned back. “I’ll be sure to text you at 4am.” He teased.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes at Lance, still grinning. He lightly pushed Lance back on the shoulder and brushed past him. “Go home Lance, I’ll see you Friday,”

 

 

—————————————

 

At Home.

 

“Hey Hunkie,” Lance chirped, walking past Hunk who was curled up on the couch, watching some superhero movie on TV, it looked like spider-man from the corner of his eye.

 

Hunk peeked up and smiled warmly. “Hey… How was work today?” 

 

Lance walked over and plopped down on top of him, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Good, I got my hot as fuck boss’ number today. Wanna take a selfie with me and text him?” 

 

Hunk raised a thick brow up, sitting up slightly to peek at the phone screen. “Oh, sounds like you and him are getting along well…”

 

“Are you jealous?” Lance asked, the corner of his mouth lifting up into a sly smirk. He couldn’t help but to tease Hunk, honestly.

 

“ _ No. _ ” Hunk deadpanned. “I’ll take a selfie with you though, and tell him if he ever hurts you this face is gonna come after him.” Hunk teased, but he was probably more than entirely serious. 

 

Lance snorted and flopped back across Hunk’s legs, his legs now on either side of Hunk. “Oh please, you couldn’t hurt a bug, my big guy.”

 

Hunk just shrugged. “Bugs don’t hurt my best friend either, though.”

 

“Ants do, I hate ants. And mosquitoes.  Anyway, photo time!” Lance sat up again and moved to lay back across Hunk’s chest, giving a cute lopsided smirk at the camera, one of his signatures. Hunk gave a smile at the camera too, and he snapped the photo before shooting it to Shiro’s number with the comment “Hunk said don’t tease me  **_or else_ ** _. _ ” It was just the start of mission ‘make Shiro thirsty’, as Lance was going to call it. He patted Hunk on the chest lightly before standing. “I’m gonna go to bed now buddy. Are you off tomorrow? I am, we should do something together.”

 

Hunk watched him, his eyes following his face. “No, I have work, but I get off at three. We can after.”

 

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

—————————————

 

Day off(1.)

 

 

Lance had been texting back and forth with Shiro last night until nearly 4am, when Shiro had said he was going bed. Unfortunately to Lance, there wasn’t too much flirting over text, there was a little, but it was hard to initiate, not wanting to flat out send anything too risky, but he thought about sending a little naughty pic nearing the end of their convo, when Shiro said he was tired and going to bed, with the caption of “Don’t dream too much about me~”.

God only knew what awkward status that would have put him at though, that’s why he thought best of it. 

 

He turned and glanced at the clock on his nightstand when he finally opened his eyes. The low pearly sunlight filtered what little it could through his windows that were surrounded by untamed greenery and a tree, always keeping his room dim. It was 9:34. A lot earlier than he expected to be up at after staying up after 4, but now that his eyes were open, he probably wasn’t going to fall back to sleep. Not with the thought of Shiro already on his mind. Shiro was probably still asleep, so he refrained from texting him so early, but in an hour he’d probably send a little good morning text. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he had Shiro’s number now. His possibilities to flirt and score were at an all time high, at least he felt like it was, if he did it right… 

 

He sighed longly, rubbing his tired face in his hands and rolling out of bed, hardly making it onto his feet. He stumbled to the doorway and rubbed at his neck idly. 

 

Hunk was definitely at work already, sadly. So he had a few hours to himself. What to do with those couple of hours? He wasn’t sure. Even though it’s only been a week since he started his job, it already felt like his life evolved around it. That wasn’t so much of a bad thing though, he enjoyed having something to do, and Shiro and Allura made it fun even when it was slow. And he was used to Hunk being home by the time he was, they had different schedules now though Lance assumed. 

 

He resorted to taking a long warm bath, until the water got cool and he got out, getting dressed lazily in a baggy shirt so he didn’t have to put his binder on, and a cozy warm blue jacket with fleece on the inside, his favorite, and boring gray sweatpants- nothing special, but his ass did look good in them. Then going into the kitchen after and making breakfast by himself. Eggs and toast, about the only thing he could cook without the help from Hunk, disappointingly, but he wasn’t a complainer. He moseyed over to the living room and plopped down on the couch with his plate of food, glancing at the clock. 10:55. He blinked and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket, about to text Shiro- but he already had a message from him surprisingly. Received ten minutes ago.

 

“Good morning.” It read. 

 

Lance blinked at it, feeling his cheeks turn a hot color.  _ Shiro texted  _ **_him_ ** _ first—  _ probably after waking up too- which gave him a good warm feeling in his chest. Even if he was just looking into the simple things too much, there’s no way you texted someone first thing in the morning if you didn’t like them  _ some _ type of way.

 

_ L: G’morning<33 what’re you up to? _

 

_ S: going to the gym before work. _

 

Lance squeaked and sunk way deep into the corner of the couch, hoping it would swallow him and bury him with all the weird emotions he was feeling.  _ Holy shit- he’s  _ **_that_ ** _ guy.  _ How did he not guess that one. Even if he’d only seen Shiro fully clothed- sleeves all the time and what not- he was  _ definitely _ brawny under that layer of cotton. No doubt about it.

 

_ L: Oh? ;) I NEED a pic of your gym outfit! _

 

_ S: why? _

 

_ L: … Gotta make sure my boss doesn’t make an ass of himself outside of work with a horrendous fuckboy outfit _

 

A minute later, Lance received a picture. Not exactly what his thudding heart was expecting. He slapped his face and snorted with a burst of giggles.  _ Shiro was such a clueless dad type.  _ It was a picture of his clothes laid out on his bed, a gray tank, which Lance was utterly  _ dying _ to see on Shiro, and black shorts. Simple, but when you thought about who it would be on, it made it that much more interesting. Especially since Lance had only seen Shiro in slacks and button shirts. Not that there was anything wrong with that, he appreciated what was left to his imagination.

 

_ L: Tease. I meant on  _ **_you_ ** _. _

 

_ S: They aren’t on me. _

 

_ Fuuuck…  _ Lance bit his lip, taking a minute longer to reply. The idea of Shiro standing around naked- or at least half naked while texting him filling his head. He wasn’t sure how to reply to that with the image in his head, but he was glad Shiro couldn’t see his face right now. He hesitated again, wondering if maybe he was sly enough to get an offer to go to the gym with Shiro. Most gyms had that ‘bring a buddy for free’ thing, and maybe Shiro needed one— or even better if he managed to get Shiro to skip the gym to hang out with him before he went to work. He could give Shiro a good workout... But that was just him daydreaming of the best scenario.

 

_ L: I’m so bored with nothing to do ;) How come you gave me the day off with nothing to do? _

 

_ S: sorry. You don’t have anything planned? _

 

_ L: No. . . Not until later. _

 

_ S: Oh. . . _

 

Shiro sent another photo, this one he was hoping for the first time. A mirror selfie of him in gym clothes, head cocked slightly and small smirk noticeable on his pale pink lips. _Holy fuuuck he was nice as hell. Sculpted and well toned, he could probably bench press me into outer space,_ Lance thought, a little more innocent than everything else he had been thinking. There was a noticeable large horizontal scar on his upper right arm, looking like it had wrapped around his arm like a band, but even from the slightly grainy picture, he could tell it was definitely a scar. It piqued his interest a bit. It wasn’t unsightly, but he wondered if thats why he always had long sleeves at work. He wasn’t about to ask though.

 

_ S: talk to you later, Lance _

 

Lance pouted slightly and sighed, putting his phone down after replying with a simple ‘okay’, since Shiro had pretty much shut the opening to flirt more down. He couldn’t be  _ too _ obvious. 

 

 

——————

 

Day off, 3:30

 

Hunk walked in, kicking his shoes off as soon as he stepped over the threshold. Lance was still on the couch, curled up watching The Notebook for the millionth time ever. It was shamelessly one of his favorite romance movies. 

 

“Hey babe.” He yawned and stretched out before scooting and patting the couch next to him. “How was work?”

 

Hunk snickered quietly and walked over, lifting Lance’s legs up and sitting down, putting them over his lap. “I don’t know why you insist on acting like we’re married.”

 

“We aren’t?” Lance grinned.

 

“Hmm, last time I checked I hadn’t proposed to you, or even dated you.” Hunk chuckled.

 

Lance gasped and covered his hand over his mouth dramatically, eyes welling up with fake-real tears, a trick he mastered to get what he wanted from his parents long ago. “You mean you don’t love me?”

 

“Don’t you dare pull that teary-eyed trick on me…” Hunk laughed. “I love you, but it’s entirely platonic. Sorry buddy. How’s your day been? Watched movies all day?”

 

“I can’t believe we’re in a loveless marriage…” Lance teased, wiping away his fake tears. He hummed and relaxed completely again, legs curled up in Hunk’s lap. “Pretty much. I texted with Shiro a bit earlier and got my first selfie from him. Wanna see? I saved it to keep forever.”

 

“Well that’s not creepy at all, Lance…” Hunk chuckled dryly. “Sure, show me what you finally scored.”

 

Lance grabbed his phone from the arm of the couch and unlocked it, handing it to Hunk after to show off the mirror selfie Shiro had sent him. “H O T, hot isn’t he?”

 

Hunk raised a brow then shrugged. “He’s definitely attractive, but that’s really your boss? How old is he?”

 

“Yup.” Lance said, clicking his phone off and stuffing it in his pocket. “27, I think. Nearly daddy material if ya know what I mea—”

 

Hunk scrunched his face up in disgust and cut him off. “I know what you mean, Lance. Don’t elaborate, please.”

 

Lance snorted and laughed. “Okay, okay, I won’t, but if he asked me to get on my kne—”

 

“LANCE!” Hunk squawked, blushing and covering his face to hide the second-hand embarrassment. “Please do not describe your sexual fantasies to me—”

 

“Not even the ones I have about you?” Lance winked.

 

“Leeeet’s not go there.” Hunk forced a sigh. “Did you want to go out today? We can go to the mall, or I can drop your horny ass off at the Lion’s Den to be with your boss?”

 

Lance poked his lip out in a pout. “I gotta resist temptation. Besides, I still have loads more of flirting to do before I can possibly get that… Let’s go to the mall.”

 

——————

 

They spent three hours wandering around the outlet mall. Lance didn’t buy much, not wanting to spend much of his paycheck for himself, but he got a few new shirts and another pair of hot pants. The sparkly ones, with bright popping colors that made it look like it was space themed. They would go well with a white tank or something. He offered to buy some of Hunk’s stuff, but he refused, even offering to buy some of his stuff still, but Lance stood his ground. Telling Hunk he wasn’t allowed to buy his stuff for him anymore unless he got something in return. 

 

“I don’t have issues with buying you things, Lance…”

 

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, shooting a less than intimidating glare at his friend. “No. You’ve done so so, soooo much for me, and never ask for squat in return!! Are you like my sugar daddy or something, Hunk?”

 

Hunk blushed and rubbed at his neck timidly. “No… I’m a little more well off than you, though. I don’t mind helping you save money now that you have a job again.”

 

“Helping me save money doesn’t equal paying for everything for me. Give me a couple more weeks and I can help pay for my shit and rent. You and your parents have always been way too amazing for me.”

 

“Yeah, they have been great. It’s not that big of a deal, I’ve been managing it just fine.” Hunk said, stopping and sitting on a bench. Lance sat next to him pouting still. 

 

“It’s not fair.”

 

“It is fair,” Hunk mumbled, looking down at the concrete. “You’ve had it pretty tough growing up, you don’t need it tough right now too.”

 

Lance blinked, swallowing back a sudden lump in this throat and feeling himself lock up.  _ Oh… _ That’s where Hunk’s head has been at the last three years. He kind of figured, it wasn’t too much of a shock, but he hated that had been the reason behind everything today. Hunk pitied him, whether he would admit it or not, and Lance hated that. He didn’t want that. It was hard enough excepting a kind heart the way it was. He tapped his finger on the bench anxiously and forced his shoulders to shrug, sighing. “I can’t say anything about that…”

 

Hunk glanced at him, his brows creased and a small sympathetic frown on his face. “I love you, Lance. You’ve always been a brother to me-”

 

“… That’s weird because I always hit on you…” Lance tried to joke and Hunk broke out in a laugh, rolling his eyes and swiping at his face— Lance guessed his big sensitive guy had tears in his eyes that he didn’t notice until he wiped them away. “Seriously, there’s no need to get all emotional over this… You’re making it weird.”

 

“ _ You’re _ making it weird.” Hunk chuckled, sniffling once and wiping the rest of the moisture away with the back of his hand. “All jokes aside, I just want to help you out and help you find your happiness.”

 

“I  _ am _ happy though. I’m not struggling the same way I used to.  _ You _ got me out of there, and I’ve been doing so much better since then, this year alone. I got a new job, new friends… All that doesn’t mean you can’t expect me to help you pay bills and shit… I must owe you and your parents like 10 grand by now. How long has it been? And you helped out pay for my T after I lost my first job when I came out. You’ve done a  _ fuck-load _ for me, my man… I don’t even know what I did to deserve that…”

 

“I told you, you’ve been a brother to me, and my parents adored you too…”

 

“Surprisingly…”

 

Hunk sighed and dropped his shoulders. No more arguing, if you wanted to call it that. “No, no surprise… Look, If you want to start helping out with living expenses, you can pay for the groceries…”

 

“Cool. I’ll buy the best.” Lance said, ending that conversation. He checked his phone for the time.  Nearly 8. He had another text message from Shiro, but he didn’t open it yet. He put his phone back into his pocket and glanced at Hunk. “Let’s go home, we can cook dinner together and watch a movie.”

 

 

                                                                  ——————————————

                                                                                         *

 

 

_                                        Shiro, 7:55pm: Hope your day off was well. See you tomorrow. _

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know, bro. I really don't.


	4. A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and Lance have a date*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God this chapter is a fucking mess, 
> 
> good luck.

 

Shiro was just getting into the shop, fumbling with the keys when Lance pulled up in his normal spot out front, a quarter before the doors opened for business. This was considered late by Shiro’s standards, but he hopped out of his jetta and skipped out with a knowing grin that  _ he _ was the reason Shiro had definitely woken up late today. Probably had to skip his gym time too, but he tried not to feel guilty about that. 

 

“Hey, you’re later than usual, boss man. I was almost here before you.” Lance chirped, nearly grinning ear to ear over the bed hair Shiro was sporting. It was cute and oddly attractive when it was messy. He reached up and ruffled it up even more from behind. “S’good look on you, Shino...” Lance teased in a flirty voice.

 

Shiro groaned at the hands mussing his hair and he bumped his hip back into Lance’s to get him to stop. He cut a glare over his shoulder at him, but his facade wavered and a small smirk appeared on his lips. “Mmm… I wonder why… One of my employees keeps texting me, then called me to tell me crazy stories about getting chased by dogs when he was 12 and finding a murder shed at the good hour of 4am.”

 

“… It was closer to five, but yes! Seriously, I found some weird ass shit with my siblings growing up.”

 

“How are you functioning right now, Lance?” Shiro snickered. “What time did  _ you _ go to sleep?..”

 

“Ahh, you want to know my secret to continuous hyperactivity— well, I never sleep. Caffeine is the way to go. You should see all the empty coffee cups lying around in my car.”   
  


“Sounds more dangerous than anything… You should try actually sleeping for once, you might like it.” Shiro said and chuckled warmly, and he pushed the door open when he got it unlocked, holding it open with the pads of his fingers for Lance to go in first. Polite as can be, as _ always.  _ He’s been here a little over eight weeks now, and Shiro’s kind character never ceased to amaze him. He was nice to everyone he encountered, it was  _ charming. _ Lance loved that so much about Shiro, but more than anything, he loved how nice Shiro was to  _ him. _ Shiro made him feel like he was the only one there with him sometimes, and it was  _ nice… _ Lance guessed all of his favorite people were the kindest because Hunk was golden too. Somehow he managed to find the best people to be around, at home and at work. 

 

He sighed deeply with the thought and stepped inside under Shiro’s arm, spinning around and walking backward to talk with Shiro. “Y’know most people would hang up and turn their phone off,”

 

Shiro followed him, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he watched Lance haphazardly stumble backward while talking. “Watch where you’re going,” he muttered. “I don’t turn my phone off in the case of an emergency.”

 

“Oh, well, and I know you’re just too polite to hang up and ignore me, huh?”

 

Shiro nodded and smiled softly. “No, I wouldn’t ignore you…”

 

Lance blushed and spluttered. Definitely not paying attention to where he was going now. “So it’s your fault you’re la—” He stumbled back into a table, pausing to search for his balance without moving his eyes from Shiro’s soft face, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed at Lance’s clumsy idiot self. He was an idiot for nearly taking a table down when Shiro  _ just  _ told him to watch where he was going. But it was okay, he made Shiro laugh “—te.  _ Your fault you’re late _ because you couldn’t tell me you were going to bed and wanted me to shut up-”

 

Shiro chuckled and walked past him, heading to the back office. “No… Maybe I actually enjoyed listening to you? You thought of that?”

 

“I- N-no… Uh- I thought I was boring the hell out of you, so much you fell asleep.” Lance said, his voice doing that annoying squeak at the end it always did when he talked fast and he covered his mouth. He hated that  **_so_ ** much. But he was even more embarrassed now because he felt caught, because he stayed on the phone even when he knew Shiro had fallen asleep. He couldn’t just hang up, it felt peaceful, and he ended up falling asleep with the phone on listening to what little he could of Shiro’s soft snoring and breathing. He was almost sure Shiro was a sleep talker too. The call saying it had lasted for nearly five hours straight before Shiro’s phone must have died or something when Lance noticed it had cut off finally sometime around 7 am.

 

 

Shiro stopped and glanced back over at Lance. “You didn’t bore me, I was tired as hell and had been working for 12 hours straight, of course I crashed… But I—” Shiro paused, his face turning red with embarrassment when Lance stepped over to him to be face to face again. Shiro cleared his throat before being able to continue. “…I  _ liked  _ being on the phone with  _ you _ … And hearing you talk… _ I didn’t want to hang up _ .” Shiro rubbed the back of his neck, the hot pink color on his cheeks spreading to his neck and ears and he glanced away timidly, like he was embarrassed for having to admit it out loud. 

 

Lance’s eyes went round and he felt himself blush at Shiro’s words. He didn’t know what to say to that— but he was  _ screaming _ on the inside. Did Shiro know what he was just saying? Cause that sounded an awful lot like something- like a confession or flirting,  _ something…  _ His mind was utterly blank suddenly, besides from what Shiro had just said. He wanted to ask if Shiro really meant it, but he responded too slow.

 

Shiro rubbed at his mouth absently before changing the subject. “Uhm… Come on, let's just get the shop ready to open, we have less than ten minutes, plus we should be getting our shipment in today. Feel like putting stock out? Shouldn’t be too much…”

 

Lance chewed his lip and just shrugged, still unable to say anything to Shiro, oddly. He felt like if he did, he’d confess something too, and he didn’t know what that would start. But all they did lately was  _ flirt _ . Or at least Lance took most of it as flirting. All the late night calls and texts recently… They haven’t  _ not _ talked to each other since Lance got his number.  

 

He watched Shiro walk to the office, going to do whatever work it was that managers did in there before opening up the shop for the day. He let a breath out that he wasn’t aware he was holding and walked to the hallway to clock in. Starting business as usual he guessed. They opened the doors five minutes late, but a short two hours later and everything was on track for business, even with customers floating around and about. Lance was putting out their highest selling lube, the one he sampled on customers most. Lance would be lying if he said he hadn’t bought a bottle of it after his second paycheck, because he did, along with a new toy to go along with it. He couldn’t buy it when Shiro was around though, mainly because he was  _ definitely  _ thinking of Shiro when he got it. Couldn’t help it…

 

Shiro wasn’t too far away, he was just on the other end of the wall, stocking the lingerie by himself when a woman came over and asked to model it  _ for him.  _ The woman said that much louder than she needed to if you asked Lance, but Shiro politely declined, or at least Lance assumed by how the woman sighed and strode off like she was disappointed her effort to flirt had been too dry for the handsome store owner.

 

Lance took a few inconspicuous steps closer when the woman finally walked far enough away and stopped checking out Shiro. He was a tad jealous to see people flirt with Shiro, though he knew he had no right to be, or why it really started to bother him more and more lately. Especially because it was a daily occurrence, honestly, and usually he wouldn’t even do this, most of the time he looked past it and ignored it, like Shiro usually did after he declined as politely as a man could. But for some reason, Lance wanted to poke at it, wonder why Shiro turned everyone down, even those as attractive and beautiful as him. “ _ She was trying to hit on you, _ ” he murmured, forcing a grin he hoped wouldn’t show his jealousy from his teeth. 

 

“A lot of people tend to…” Shiro huffed, keeping his eyes on the shelf he was fixing. 

 

“She was pretty, you could have scored with her probably-”

 

Shiro made a face and he stopped what he was doing for a second to shoot a mildly disgusted look at Lance.  “I’m… not really into getting with strangers… Are you?..”

 

“Uh—” Lance blinked, not sure if this was some kind of trick question, unsure if his answer would get him into trouble, because yes, depending on the situation, Lance probably wouldn’t have a hard time getting with a stranger. But that’s not where his mind was at right now. “Can I skip answering that?”

 

“..Sure.” Shiro muttered, stepping back. “I don’t mind people flirting with me I guess, but I’d rather go on a date before hooking up…”

 

“Gentleman Shiro back at it again, stealing everyone’s hearts with his amazing qualities and formalities…” Lance chuckled. 

 

“You think I’m a gentleman?” Shiro quirked a brow at him.

 

“You think you’re not? Have you met you?! You’re like— the gentlest gentleman a man could gentle!”

 

Shiro burst out laughing and shook his head at Lance. “Wow, okay… I never thought of it that way…”

 

Lance smirked and elbowed Shiro lightly. “C’mon man- when’s the last time you went on a date anyways? I know I’ve asked before if you were dating and you said no. Y’know I was shocked, right? ‘Cause I was! What’s a guy as hot and nice as you doing being single for so long at 27?” Lance forced himself to chuckle, trying not to be so transparent himself like it wasn’t obvious enough already. It’s not like he wanted Shiro to start dating suddenly- well- not just  _ anyone _ … If he maybe had a small, hopeful, and slim chance with Shiro… Lance honestly couldn’t remember the last crush he had like this, one that lasted more than a few days, and was past just being sexual attraction. It felt dumb to be even a little hopeful for something romantic with someone like Shiro. He was such a great guy, he could probably have any partner he wanted if he put himself out there…

 

Shiro shrugged and scratched the back of his head idly. “Dunno…” He licked at his lip when he paused. “… We’re both off Saturday, why don’t  _ you _ be my date?..” He asked in a hushed voice. Like he didn’t want anyone around to hear him just asking his employee on a date—

 

Fuck-

 

HOLY FUCK—

 

He nearly choked on his spit and fell into the glass shelf. Had Shiro really just asked him on a date or was he hallucinating— or still dreaming from last night? He forgot to pinch himself. “D- Did you just?!—” Lance felt his cheeks burn up.  _ Oh _ , he was  **_not_ ** expecting that. Dreaming of it, but not expecting it. “You’re being serious?..” Lance asked, his voice squeaking again, the second time today already.  _ Mood ruiner. _

 

Shiro caught his side and held him from crashing into the glass shelves. He clamped down on his lips to suppress a grin that was surely there and nodded slowly at Lance. “Yeah… Why I wouldn’t be serious with you?”

 

_ Serious with me, huh… _ Lance thought, blinking rapidly at the floor for two seconds. The hands holding his sides making him feel light- like the kind of ‘ _ I might actually pass out _ ’ light. Dang, he really should have pinched himself this morning, but he felt it would have been too weird to do now. “Saturday?” he barely asked, his voice totally splitting on him.

 

Shiro nodded and let go of his side, fingers hovering over a bit longer, just in case Lance really did pass out. “If you want… Anywhere you want.”

 

“O-Okay. S-sure sure.” Lance stuttered. “Surprise me, how about that? Y-You can text me where you want to meet up Saturday morning…”

 

Shiro gave a small smile, his hands finally, but disappointingly dropping back to his own sides. No more hovering, or touching… Unfortunately…

 

“You aren’t an expensive date are you?” Shiro teased, stepping back to the last shelf he was setting up.

 

Lance shook his head quickly. “No- I’d be fine with just… Uh- … going to your house for a movie date?” Lance's cheeks flushed red, and he tried to play his un-coolness off with one of his dorky grins. Still not 100% sure he had actually woken up this morning.  _ Shiro asked him on a  _ **_date_ ** … For Saturday. Less than two days away if he were counting the hours. He already was, honestly.

 

Shiro snickered and glanced at him from the corner of his eye now. “Sure. Maybe we can go to the park for some sweets first though? It’s supposed to be a nice day.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Lance blinked then narrowed his eyes. “I thought we had a chance for rain Saturday? Are you saying you’re going to kiss me in the rain, if it does, Shiro? Cause I’ll be disappointed if not.” Lance teased, laughing nervously.  _ Did I just say that… Oh my god, MCCLAIN! _ He silently cursed himself for watching the  _ notebook _ one too many times. He blushed furiously and smacked his forehead, stuttering. “I- uh- haha! I’m ki-kidding!!! Kidding, of course! Ahahaha—”

 

Shiro raised a brow, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “We’ll see… It’s a date.”

 

 

———————

 

 

Saturday, 8:45am

 

 

_ Ugh, what was sleep, honestly? _

 

He tried forcing himself to go to sleep early last night once he got home from work, but he couldn’t shut off his brain and restlessness. He maybe only got two hours of sleep before he turned over and opened his eyes before 9am, and he couldn’t close his eyes again after that. He had too many butterflies in his stomach and swirling around his head. He felt like he was still in a dream.  _ He was going on a date with Shiro… _

 

Shiro had texted him last night when he got home, telling him he’d see him tomorrow, with a little heart emoji too— It took forever for Lance to get him to use those stupid things, and now all of their texts were that much cuter.

 

Lance sighed with the thought and curled up tight under his blanket, blinking at the pale blue walls of his room in the dim morning light. It was too early to text or call Shiro, but he was getting bubbly with excitement. If it wasn’t so cold in his room so early in the morning he would have bounced out of bed already, but it was too soon for that, he was still warming up. 

 

He rolled out of bed not too long after and walked to the bathroom but the door was closed, and he could hear the shower running. Hmm, Hunk was in there… Sucked that they only had one bathroom, but he didn’t have to rush. He knew Shiro was still sleeping anyway, but it took everything out of him not to call him and hear his voice before their date. He wasn’t even sure what time Shiro wanted him over, they didn’t quite discuss that, just that they’d spend some time around the park nearest Shiro’s house before they’d go to his house and…watch movies… or whatever… Not that he was looking for this to turn into dick date, really, but it would be hard  _ not  _ to think about it honestly… Shiro was a lot that Lance really liked in a person, or what anyone would really like in a person. Selfless and compassionate, strong- in more than one way, Lance might add… Controlled. He never lost his temper with anyone, even the most pesky and shitty customers that tried giving him a hard time at work… He was attractive too, of course, let's not forget that… His ash-gray eyes, square jaw that needed to be peppered with kisses and love bites— broad shoulders, hella nice biceps, with the scars and all, even if Lance had yet to see them in the flesh yet. Maybe today he would, if Shiro wore something with less sleeves like one of his gym tanks or something. He was taken out of his daydream when the bathroom door slid open— one of those noisy sliding pocket doors, Lance hated that thing, it never stayed closed even with the latch…

 

“Hey, Lance. Were you waiting to get in? You could’ve come in.”

 

“To shower with you?” Lance grinned.

 

Hunk just rolled his eyes and stepped out, a towel wrapped around his waist. “You’re up early… What time did you get to sleep?”

 

“Maybe six? I dunno… I’m going on a date today with Shiro.”

 

Hunk paused mid-stride on his way to his room. “Whoa… Did he ask you out finally? Or did you ask him?”

 

Lance bit on his lip, chewing down a smile. “I asked him why I never seen him date anyone, and he asked me to be his date… Think that’s something?” 

 

Hunk blinked like he was actually shocked and nodded his wet head. “Maybe he was waiting for you to ask? That’s great though, buddy. You finally got a date with your crush.” He winked. “Good luck.”

 

Lance grinned and stepped in the bathroom, closing the door behind him and preparing his shower. He should have thought twice about it, but he decided he’d call Shiro after he got out. Too impatient to wait any longer. He wrapped his towel around himself and fluffed his sopping wet hair, making it a mess. He’d deal with that shortly. He picked up his phone and dialed Shiro’s number when he walked back to his room after his shower. It rang a few times, he wasn’t sure Shiro would answer this early at barely 9:30. 

 

“Hello?” A sleepy voice murmured. Lance tensed up a bit and stood in front his mirror across from his bed. He didn’t turn his bedroom light on, so he was only illuminated by what little bit of sunlight made its way through the curtains… 

 

“Lance?” Shiro said again, still in a sleepy daze from the sound of it.

 

“Hey, Shiro… Did I wake you? I’m sorry.” Lance muttered, feeling bad for waking him up. He rubbed at his neck anxiously before grabbing his towel from falling. “I jus—”

 

“It’s alright… Something up?..” Shiro sounded hesitant.

 

“N-No… I just… wanted to talk to you before our date…” Lance sat down on the edge of his bed and twisted the end of his towel in his fist. “I’m excited and nervous…” Lance chuckled.

 

It took a second longer before Shiro replied, Lance could hear him shift around on his bed. “Me too…”

 

“Did you see the forecast for today?” Lance asked, grinning a little to himself. “There’s still a forty percent chance of rain…”  _ What a stupid attempt to flirt…  _ “…  _ Think there’s a forty percent chance you’ll kiss me? _ ” He asked quietly and bit his lip, still grinning about the thought from the other day.

 

Shiro hummed, and his voice was lower now—  _ sexy _ … “..I think there’s a better chance than that…”

 

Lance had to suppress the squeal, his cheeks definitely burning red.  _ Holy shit. _ “Oh, is there?”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

“You’re not just teasing the romantic in me, are you?”

 

Shiro chuckled then. “No, no. Not at all… I’m a romantic too, and I want to kiss you…”

 

Lance covered his hand over his mouth, smiling widely.  _ Oh my goooooood.  _ “Uhm- Good, good, Shiro. I can’t wait. A-Are you going to pick me or something? Or—”

 

“I’ll pick you up,” Shiro answered before he could finish. “How about around noon? I still have to wake up and get ready…”

 

“You are awake.”

 

“Not entirely awake,” Shiro corrected and he paused, sighing quietly on the other end. “… I’m going to call you when I’m on my way, okay? You’re home, right?”

 

Lance frowned a bit but nodded, though it was to himself. “Okay… Yeah, I’m home.”

 

“See you in a bit, Lance,” Shiro said and he hung up.

 

Lance blinked straight ahead, not knowing whether he should scream or not. Shiro just said he wanted to  _ kiss _ him. He heard that right.  _ I want to kiss you… _ It repeated in his head over and over, once, twice, twenty times now… And he couldn’t keep the blush from off his face. He was 90% sure he’d be spending his whole day blushing, right up until he went back to bed. Maybe even after that too, though.

 

He slid off his bed and scrambled over to his dresser. It was time to find something to wear. Nothing too warm- so not his cute fleece jacket he adored. He only wore it at home anyways, since it was considered girly. He rummaged through what limited options he had, all polar opposites of the next. He had his baggy trash clothes and cleaner brighter clothes all mixed in, but he found one of his good shirts- it was baggy too, but that was the style. Blue and white with stripes, and a scoop neck. Comfy. He threw that and his binder on, and debated for probably twenty minutes longer what bottoms to go with it, and if he should pack today. It probably didn’t matter, but he did and chose a light pair of jeans finally. He stepped back and looked at himself in the mirror a few times. He looked good. Cute, maybe, but not the kind of cute he dreaded being. 

 

“Hey Hunk? Think this fine?” Lance called, walking out of his room, still with no shoes on. 

 

Hunk peeked out of the living room and tilted his head. “Hmm.. If that’s what you’re aiming for? I think it’s cute.”

 

“Not cute-cute, right?”

 

“No, average guy kind of cute.”

 

Lance let a sigh of relief out. “Okay good, but does it also look like good material to get kissed in the rain in?”

 

Hunk raised his thick brows. “Is it even supposed to rain today?”

 

“Maybe. I want to take all of my chances.” Lance walked over to the shitty recliner neither one hardly ever sat in and plopped down. “He said if it rained, he’d kiss me.”

 

Hunk sat back down on the couch, leaning forward and looking Lance over. “Only if it rained?. He might be missing out on you.” Hunk said with a smile.

 

Lance smiled back and shook his head. “No, I just said that’s when  _ I _ would  _ prefer _ to be kissed.”

 

Hunk chuckled. “Of course…You’re favorite romantic movie cliche.”

 

“Oooof cooourse!” Lance drawled, grinning wide. “You can’t have a perfect cinematic kiss unless it’s in the rain— or in a car while it’s raining-  _ at night, in the city, _ I might at add.”

 

Hunk snorted. “Right, right… Maybe you’ll get your big movie kiss, Lance…”

 

—————

 

An hour and a half later after he dried and straightened his hair, Shiro had called his phone. He picked it up and answered it immediately, not without fumbling with it first. 

 

“Hey you,”

 

“Hey yourself,” Shiro mused, and Lance could practically hear his smile from the other end. “I’m on my way, are you ready?”

 

“Yeah, I’m ready, want me to wait outside for you?”

 

“I  _ can _ ring a doorbell, you know…”

 

“Is this another gentleman thing?” Lance teased. His cheeks hurt he was smiling so much… He’s never been this excited for a date. Never had a crush on someone quite as sweet as Shiro. It felt new, it felt good.

 

“Maybe.” Shiro purred.  _ Christ… _ That voice made Lance want to melt into a puddle… “It’s a date, right? So I’ve got to sweep you off your feet.”

 

Lance sighed longingly and sunk into his seat. “How close are you?”

 

“Five minutes away… Hey, the clouds look a little dreary, that’s a good thing right?” Shiro asked. 

 

_ Ugh,  _ he was such a tease… Lance got up and peeked out the window to see for himself, and sure enough, there were gray clouds looming around, but way, way out in the distance. The sun was still beaming for the most part in their area.

 

“You just looked outside, didn’t you?” 

 

He heard the knowing grin in Shiro’s voice and blushed that he got caught. “Yeah, and?”

 

Shiro chuckled. “Oh, nothing, sweetheart… See you in a few.”

 

Lance felt his face go hot at the endearment Shiro called him, and he stammered before Shiro hung up, leaving him to pout. He wanted to call Shiro a jerk for hanging up like that, but still, calling Shiro a jerk just didn't fit. He  _ wasn't _ a jerk, but a  _ tease _ maybe...  _ Definitely _ … It was a few more minutes before the doorbell rang and Lance launched himself out of his chair, stumbling over to the door and ripping it open. Being met with the handsome man that was Shiro himself. And he was lucky, Shiro was dressed very casually, a plain light gray t-shirt and washed jeans, for once. His eyes trailing up his arms, he could see different scars, interesting ones, and the one that really popped on his right arm. It contrasted with his skin a lot, like the one across his nose, but it was characteristic. He wanted to run his fingers along them, and kiss them. He wondered if Shiro was self-conscious about them, maybe… He looked really comfortable right now, though; and handsome. 

 

Shiro was checking him out too, and it took him a second longer to greet Lance. “There’s my handsome date.” Shiro smiled and held his hand out for Lance’s.

 

“And mine,” Lance smiled back at him widely. He almost felt like his eyes were sparkling, the way they did in cartoons when the character saw their interest because Shiro was an eyeful, and  _ he _ was his date today.  _ Lucky. _ He reached for Shiro’s hand and tugged him inside. “Before we go, I want you to meet my housemate, is that cool?” He linked their fingers together when Shiro gave an OK, leading him into the small living room where Hunk was sitting, messing with the TV remote. 

 

Hunk jumped as if he was startled when he caught a glance at Shiro before he looked at Lance, then Shiro again. “Uh— Hey-”

 

“Hunk! I want you to meet Shiro officially!” Lance chirped, nudging into Shiro.

 

Hunk stood up and eyed Shiro from head to toe. “So you’re _the_ _Shiro,_ huh? I’m Hunk,” He said, sticking his hand out for Shiro’s.

 

Shiro shook it and nodded. “Yeah, and you’re the housemate that Lance says vaguely threatens to hurt me if I hurt him…” He chuckled. “I can promise you, I’ll take good care of Lance.”

 

Hunk glanced back and forth between them. “That’s right, you best treat him with respect cause I don’t play around with my bro Lance…”

 

Shiro pursed his lips. “He’s in good hands.” He squeezed Lance’s hand in his gently and looked down at him. “Are you ready? I live in bent tree, you ever been to the park over there?”

 

“I have.” Hunk commented, probably as a friendly warning. Lance was surprised Hunk hadn’t asked for his address, or his phone number yet. 

 

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I lived over there for a bit. That’s where I found the murder shed.”

 

Hunk gave a confused look and Shiro laughed. “Oh,” Shiro muttered. “I don’t think there’s any murder shed anymore, they probably caught the guy you accused of murder-”

 

“Wh-what are we talking about here? A murder shed??” Hunk stammered

 

Lance snorted with a laugh and pat Hunk gently. “Don’t sweat it, big guy, there’s nothing to worry about, I got Shiro to protect me!” He said, knowing that Hunk was probably going to be googling a ton of shit about bent tree park, and doing a background check on Shiro, too, probably.  “Alright, see ya, Hunk!” Lance waved goodbye to Hunk then and tugged Shiro outside with him, closing the door behind them. Shiro’s car was out front on the curb. Shiro walked ahead and opened the passenger door for him with a grin.

 

Lance stopped a foot away from the car and crossed his arms playfully. “How about you let me do that for you once?”

 

“Do what? Open a door? I can do that myself.” Shiro said, his eyes crinkling up when he snickered at Lance for sticking his tongue out.

 

“So can I,” Lance huffed, sliding into the car after. He buckled in when Shiro got in. “You can let someone else be the gentleman for once, like y’know, me.”

 

Shiro nodded and started the car. “How about on the way back, then? Before I kiss you goodnight on your doorstep?” Shiro murmured, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. A little smile playing at the corners of his lips. 

 

_ Flirt...  _ Lance blinked and snapped his mouth shut. He could feel the heat in his cheeks again and silently cursed Shiro for making him blush so much. He didn’t have a chance like this. “… Is that your plan?..” He asked, watching Shiro closely. Particularly his lips, then his eyes when he noticed Shiro’s pretty stone-gray eyes watching him too like he was going to kiss him right there, in the front seat. Before their date really began.

 

Shiro leaned away and gave a small smile and shrugged nonchalantly. “Part of it…” He said, turning back to his wheel and driving off the street. “Only if you’re okay with it, of course.”

 

Lance nodded his head quickly. “I’m more than okay with it— better than okay.” he squeaked, sinking way down low into the seat and covering his cheeks. He couldn’t believe this— he was such a gentleman at  **_everything_ ** . It was frustrating. It made him that much more needy for Shiro and his stupid courteous self-  _ ugh,  _ no, it  _ wasn’t  _ stupid, it was incredibly attractive and sexually frustrating.  _ Someone _ needed to be sucking Shiro’s dick. If he was lucky, by the end of the night it would be him. He groaned and stuck his bottom lip out slightly, looking over at Shiro exasperatedly because of his own naughty thoughts now. 

 

Shiro was paying his mind to the road ahead, humming softly with the low radio. Lance only just noticed it was on because of Shiro’s humming. He huffed quietly and leaned on the console, his arm brushing against Shiro’s. He glared at it, a part of him wishing he was brave enough to twine their hands together, but he wasn’t sure how Shiro would react. He wasn’t even sure how  _ he _ would react, he just wanted to hold Shiro’s hand.

 

“Any reason you’re staring at my arm like that?” Shiro asked, holding his open palm out invitingly with a small smirk at the corner of his lips. He wiggled his fingers. “You can hold my hand…”

 

“Am I that obvious…” Lance whined quietly. 

 

“A ‘lil bit… But what’s a date without holding hands?” Shiro snickered.

 

“A very sad one…” Lance retorted, biting his lip. He hesitated before he slid his palm into Shiro’s, and he felt every texture and crease on Shiro’s palm before he twined their fingers together. Shiro’s hands were as warm as he thought they would be and softer than he expected. It was nice… There was the blush on his face again… But he didn’t care, he liked this, having his hand in Shiro’s… 

 

Shiro let a quiet sigh out, relaxing into his seat. He squeezed Lance’s hand gently, all like  _ he _ was the one waiting for his hand to be held the longest…

 

“Soooo, you live in bent tree huh? Will I finally get to see your house?”

 

Shiro hummed. “Maybe, if you want.” 

 

“I do want,” Lance grinned. “I’ll be able to drop by and bother you when you’re off work if I have your address.”

 

Shiro laughed and nodded his head. “So  _ there’s _ the ulterior motive…”

 

“Oooh yeah, I have one for everything. You’ll see.” Lance jested, grinning smugly still. “I’ll surprise you one day,”

 

“One day, huh? Can’t wait.. How do you feel about hanging out at the nature park by the way? We can get ice cream too, and wait to get caught in the rain…” Shiro smirked a little when he said  _ wait to get caught in the rain. _

 

_ Ugh, Shiro was going to out romanticize him at this rate. _

 

“I’m sure you have a garden hose at your house too, if it doesn’t.” Lance said, and Shiro chuckled again.

 

“I definitely have to kiss you in the rain? Is that the only time I’m permitted to?”

 

“No,” Lance muttered, squeezing Shiro’s hand with a smile. Shiro was too nice… “You can kiss me even if it doesn’t rain, but have you seen The Notebook? Or that Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I don’t remember which one exactly, but the one with the epic kiss scene during a battle at sea? Cause that’s a goal of mine.”

 

“So you want me to battle pirates with you on our first date?”

 

Lance snorted. “Heh. Not exactly, but that probably would be fun, huh?”

 

They chatted the rest of the way, only a few more minutes before they arrived and Shiro parked his car underneath a twin set of oak trees. They weren't fully grown ones, but they were pretty as they slowly matured. Kids climbed in them usually, Lance used to be one of those kids that did and got in trouble for it every time. Or the occasion he fell out of it and fractured his arm. He told Shiro about it and Shiro laughed, asking him not to repeat it today while they were on their date.

 

“Mmm, I won’t, I’ll save you the trouble.” Lance teased, climbing out of the car as quickly as he could so Shiro wouldn't get the chance to come around and open the door for him. He would have opened Shiro’s door for him, but Shiro was quick too. Both of them laughing when Lance tried to race over to grab the door. Shiro snatched him up around the waist, pressing his warm mouth against the junction between his neck and shoulder. Lance froze underneath his grasp, giggling still. He rolled his head back against Shiro’s chest and relaxed.He could feel Shiro grin against his skin, warm breath puffing from his nose on his neck. He was eating the affection up, curling his toes and pushing back slightly into Shiro. “What? You're trying to kiss me already?” Lance asked, practically purring.

 

Shiro nuzzled the spot and hummed, squeezing Lance’s sides. “I’m not trying to kiss you  _ yet _ . I caught you in my arms because you were acting silly trying to grab my door before I could get out and get yours… how rude, you don't let the gentleman do what he does best.” Shiro chuckled, pushing away from Lance lightly. 

 

_ Tease _ … Lance tried not to pout about the lack of warmth pressed against him now. “You said I could be the gentleman, though.”

 

“On the way back from the date, remember?” Shiro winked at him. “but if you're so desperate. . .” Shiro held his hands up in surrender. “you can open all of the doors from this point on.”

 

Lance pursed his lips and tapped his finger on his chin, pretending to think it out. “let me think of the best times to open your door would be,”

 

“oooh, so that's how it works, huh? Best times only? Did I accidentally take one of those times?”

 

“Probably. Gotta line up with the stars now, baby.” Lance snickered. “Show me around now?” he asked, reaching his arm for Shiro’s. Shiro linked their arms together and lead them down the sidewalk that led into the small park just before the subdivision of houses. It was cool and quiet, the wind blowing with the scent of coming rain, but it was so far away… it would be closer soon enough, and his heart skipped a beat just thinking about it. It felt too much like a dream, being on a date with  _ Shiro _ … He peeked over at Shiro before glancing away again. He was so pretty… his long lashes framing the prettiest eyes Lance thought he's ever seen, with nearly every shade of gray you could imagine. The jagged scar that laid across his crooked nose, pink and perfect in its own way. And the five o’clock shadow he was sporting. Light, but nice.

 

“when's the last time you've been around here? They've made new trails through the woods recently,”

 

Lance blinked dumbly then shook his head at Shiro. “Nah-uh, not going in there. That's where the murder shed was.” 

 

Shiro snorted and chuckled. “okay, no trails through the woods, then… Do you mind walking down the road past the school? There's a little stand down that way that sells ice cream and sweets. ..Nothing sweet as  _ you _ , of course…” 

 

Lance groaned and pressed his blushing face into Shiro’s bicep. “ _ Oh my  _ **_god_ ** .” 

 

“that was pretty lame, wasn't it?”

 

“It was  _ awful _ , but I love the effort. You really tried.” Lance chuckled, turning his head and resting it against Shiro’s shoulder as they walked. He slipped his hand into Shiro’s and hummed a tune quietly to himself. 

 

They walked to a little stand down the road. It was bright and painted pink. It was as tiny as Lance had expected it, and cute honestly, with two of the small little sliding service windows, and one small pink bench under its shabby porch, though the pink color was flaking off of it from weathering. Two kids popped into the window, a little girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, and a boy even smaller than she was, though he had similar features, but his hair was curlier and shorter. They reminded Lance of his niece and nephew, but they were a little bit older than that now. It's been too long to remember their exact ages.

 

“Can we help you?!” the little boy bounced and waved at them, and the girl lurched forward in the little window opening. 

 

“Oh, Mr. Shiro!” Her face lit up when she saw Shiro.  _ Oh _ . Shiro must have been a regular here… Cute. He wondered how well Shiro was with kids. Probably great if he had any idea from how he was with everyone else. 

 

Shiro nodded to her and smiled. “Hey, Mila and Elijah… Running the stand today by yourselves?”

 

“Nooooo, of course not, Gran is here too. Are you coming to get your ala mode this week? Is that your boyfriend?” the girl, Mila, asked, bouncing on her feet and looking over Lance..

 

Shiro squeezed Lance's hand then. “This is my date, Lance… And nope, not the usual today. Lance gets to pick for us.” Shiro smiled over at him when he said it and Lance blinked, blushing,  _ again _ … He felt almost shy in front of the kids with Shiro. They  _ knew _ him, as a regular. And here he was tagging along with Shiro and disrupting what was probably a routine. He tried not to think like that, though, and brushed the feeling off the best he could.

 

“Uh, what do you usually get?” Lance asked dumbly, glancing up at Shiro.

 

“He usually gets our brownie ala mode! It's really good!” the girl chimed in. It was obvious she was standing on a stool, and on her tippy toes by how she was hanging half out of the window, the little boy behind her trying to do the same, but not getting as far out into the window due to being shorter. An older woman with long brown hair that was starting to gray at the top stepped up behind them and peeked out. 

 

“Oh, there's one of my favorite customers...” She smiled at Shiro then looked at Lance, her smile never fading. “Oh? Who’s this, Shiro?”

 

“My date, Lance.”

 

“You finally got a date? It's about time.” The older woman chuckled. “I don't know how someone as handsome and kind hearted as you could go single for so long…  _ Lance _ , you're one lucky man…” She winked at him and Lance smiled at her awkwardly, not sure what to say. 

 

Apparently he wasn't the only one baffled by Shiro’s relationship status… But he did feel lucky to be one of Shiro’s dates.

 

Shiro squeezed his hand again and nodded. He smiled tenderly at the older woman. “I think I may be the lucky one here,” He said, lifting Lance's hand and kissing it lightly. He smiled warmly at Lance. 

 

Lance felt like his face was on fire- or his whole body, actually. And that his heart would actually melt from Shiro’s smile….  _ Smooth, Shiro _ … 

 

“So what can I get the lovely couple?” the woman asked, hand on her hip.

 

Shiro nudged him lightly. “Your pick,” he whispered.

 

Lance stuck his bottom lip out and stood looking at the menu. Surprisingly there were quite a few options for such a small place… maybe it was like Mary Poppins’ bag or the wardrobe from Narnia on the inside. “how about a funnel cake?”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Shiro agreed and the woman nodded and winked at them.

 

“it'll be right up.” 

 

They didn't wait long, Shiro grabbed the plate from the girl and waved bye to her when they walked off, back in the direction of the car and the oak trees.

 

“Hope you like funnel cake, they sure gave us a lot.” Lance said, getting ready to pick a piece off the plate Shiro was holding. He didn't bother with the fork, he just ripped a piece off and popped it into his mouth, powdered sugar getting everywhere.

 

Shiro nodded and chuckled. “Yeah, they're the best sweet stand around. I'll never go anywhere else.” he picked a piece off for himself and ate it.

 

“You seemed to know them real well… I didn't know you were good with kids, too.”

 

“I'd like to think I am, I love kids… maybe want a few of my own one day, but I'll have to get a different business before then. Be a little awkward owning an adult shop and having young kids.”

 

Lance snorted. “ _ Bring your parent to school day  _ would go interestingly,” he joked.

 

Shiro smirked and elbowed him lightly. “I don't know, though… Allura doesn't want to let the business go, and she can't run it by herself. For some reason she's competitive with Zarkon, but I don't really get it… Before you came along, I suggested we do something else with the shop, less adult orientated.” 

 

“Like what?”

 

Shiro shrugged. “Wasn't really sure, but I brought it up once as a suggestion. Not that I don't like our business…” he scratched his neck and shrugged again. “It’s a fun environment sometimes I guess, if you're really into it, but it gets old… until you hire an employee who's full of life and entertaining inside  _ and _ outside of work…” 

 

“You mean me?”

 

Shiro smirked. “Yes, I mean you…”

 

“Good to know I’m too fun to be gotten rid of...” Lance chuckled and bumped his shoulder lightly into Shiro’s. “I see your point though, that's why I brought up doing shows, like what, two months ago? And you guys haven’t done anything with the idea.”

 

“That’s Allura… We’re still talking about it but she’s hesitating to open our doors to that…Anyway..” Shiro muttered, changing the subject. “... want some more?” He gestured the plate of funnel cake and sugar to Lance and Lance tore another piece off willy-nilly. Probably wasn't the smartest treat to get with the wind blowing, especially when a gust of wind caught the plate and blew sugar everywhere. Shiro ended up with a face full of sugar when a gust of wind got them and Lance burst into laughter, accidentally inhaling the powder in his mouth. Now both of them were coughing and wheezing with laughter. 

 

“Maybe funnel cake wasn't the  **_best_ ** choice for a day like today…” Shiro said grinning. He swiped the powder off his face and patted Lance on the back until he caught his breath again from coughing. “Are you alright, Lance?”

 

Lance swallowed thickly and nodded, straightening up. “I'll be fine-- just kind of hurt having powder go in my windpipe.” he grinned back at Shiro. “how was that face full of powder? You still got some on your face.” Lance reached up and brushed off Shiro’s cheeks. He froze with hands still on Shiro’s face, feeling the warmth of his cheeks. He hesitated before brushing his thumb lightly over the end of the scar where it ended on his cheek under his eye. Shiro was frozen there, watching his eyes just as Lance was watching his. Both of them mesmerized by each other, Lance was sure.  

 

Shiro reached up and gripped Lance's hands gently, rubbing his thumbs over Lance’s hands. His gray eyes still watching Lance's blue ones intently. “You make it hard not wanting to kiss you yet…”

 

“What makes you want to kiss me?.” Lance whispered, absently licking at his bottom lip. He would have been okay with Shiro stealing their first kiss right here… But he wanted Shiro to entertain him a bit. 

 

“There’s a lot about you that makes me want to kiss you… It’s the way you look at me,”

 

Lance nodded his head slightly. “Uhuh,”

 

“The way you talk so animatedly… You  _ never _ stop talking… I love listening to you talk, but sometimes I don’t always hear what you’re saying because I’m too busy looking at your lips move…” Shiro leaned in closer, eyes darting to Lance's lips. Their noses brushed together and Lance shivered when Shiro’s breath fanned across his lips. 

 

Lance shivered and whimpered quietly, and he pulled back slightly.  _ Fuck… _ He could hardly breathe right now. He felt like if he did, he’d shove his tongue down Shiro’s throat. Him being this close was beyond a tease… Lance swallowed nervously and moved his hands from his face to the sides of his neck, being mindful of each new patch of skin he got to feel. It was warm and smooth down most of his neck, past the light scruff on his face and jaw. Lance liked that though… He could imagine that face brushing along his own neck, or even better, between his legs. He almost forgot what they were doing just now, and he peeked back up to Shiro’s eyes. “That all?..”

 

Shiro licked his own lip and shook his head slowly. Moving his hands down the length of Lance’s arms until he reached his elbows before dropping his hands to Lance’s waist. “No, of course not… I think we have a lot of chemistry… Don’t you?” Shiro whispered, and nosed Lance’s cheek gently, his lips hardly brushing against Lance’s. “Can I kiss you now?”

 

Lance’s eyes fell shut and a shiver went down his spine again. Shiro was driving him crazy being this close, tasting his breath and feeling his warmth so close. Yet it wasn’t quite close enough… He sighed and bit his lip, opening his eyes and glanced up at the sky. The rain clouds were getting closer, much closer, but Lance still hasn't felt a drop yet.  _ Ugh, it's not raining yet… but it's sooo close.  _ **_He_ ** _ was so close. _ Don’t know why he didn't just agree. They were already so close, but they needed to be closer to the car, honestly… He wanted to get his hands down Shiro’s pants if possible. He swallowed and bent his head down away from Shiro’s. “After the first raindrop, you can kiss me,” 

 

Shiro smiled and nodded meekly, leaning back just a fraction. He glanced up too and pursed his lips. “Well, while we're waiting on that, we should walk back to the car unless you plan on getting really drenched, too...”

 

“That’s a tad bit part of the plan, maybe not sopping wet though.” Lance muttered.

 

Shiro took his hand back in his and lead him to the car, taking their time. Lance was paying too much attention Shiro’s breathing while walking next to him. He was  _ distracted _ by it. He wanted his breath against him again, but he just  _ had _ to be ornery… He’d be lucky if Shiro still wanted to kiss him after that… The wind around them picked up, carrying the summer rain with it and rustling the trees. Thunder rolling above. It was another sound Lance liked, one he was very familiar with. Living on the gulf coast always brought the best storms, the ones that lasted for hours during the afternoon.  _ Perfect weather for making out… _ Maybe Shiro would agree, or end up agreeing after this. He was convinced kissing in the rain  _ was _ better.

 

_ Plip. _

 

Lance blinked at the ground in front of them, freezing in place and squeezing Shiro’s hand in his.

 

_ Plip, plip, plip _

 

And not a moment later did the sheet of summer rain come down. Fast and cold and heavy when it came, nearly making Lance screech in surprise when it drenched his shirt through and through within a matter of seconds. it felt so cold. “Ooh FUCK that's cold!” Lance screeched, shivering violently before his body got used to the shocking cold wetness.

 

Shiro burst out laughing and pushed him over to the car.  “What did you think it was going to be?!” Shiro laughed, grinning dumbly.

 

“ _ I don’t know! _ ” Lance giggled, gripping Shiro’s arm so he didn't slip or fall. Shiro kept his steady hand on him too.

 

“ _ Lance _ …” 

 

Lance nodded, grinning ear to ear. “What are you waiting for,  _ kiss me _ , Shiro!” as soon as he said  **_Kiss me_ ** , Shiro pulled him in at his waist, fingers digging into the soft skin on his back, leading them back clumsily until they were against his car when he kissed him. It happened as quickly as the rain came after the first drop, but it was warm and sweet when Shiro crushed his lips against his. Shiro pinning him up against the car and grabbing Lance's cheeks to deepen their messy kiss, pulling him into the warmth. The rain dripping off their faces and soaking through their clothes. They’d be soaked through and through before they got in the car, but Lance didn't care about his wet clothes, and he was sure Shiro didn’t either. It was  _ perfect _ .  With Shiro’s lips against his. He tasted so sweet, and his kiss was fervent, just like Lance thought it would be... 

 

Lance pulled away, giggling when Shiro’s lips tried to follow after his and nip. “A lot it did for us to get to the car... We're already soaked.”

 

“I told you…” Shiro teased, peeking his eyes open and he kissed Lance again tenderly, fumbling behind Lance with his hands for the door. He got it opened and pushed Lance in, climbing in on top of him after closing the door behind them. It was a little cramped being thrown in, but Lance enjoyed the warm wet body between his legs. “I should have brought a few towels if I had known this would happen.” Shiro chuckled.

 

“We're getting your seats soaking wet…”

 

“Mhm, it's fine though…” Shiro dug his keys out of his pocket and leaned over the front seats to start the car and turn the heater on. “I’m more concerned about you getting cold.”

 

Lance watched Shiro climb back over him, his strong arms holding himself up above Lance. His wet shirt clinging to him satisfying. It was hard not to want to stare at everything his clothes clung to, hard not to touch yet.

 

“...I won't get cold with you around.” Lance whispered, searching Shiro’s face before touching it again gently, running his fingers over his cheek and jaw carefully, observantly. Feeling over his slightly scruffy jawline and smooth textured cheeks, like he did before. He was going to  _ burn _ the feel of Shiro’s skin in this moment into his memory. He reached behind Shiro’s neck and pulled Shiro in for another kiss, wrapping him up in another warm wet kiss. Shiro melted into it, leaning his head to the side and pressing into it needily.

 

He reached up cupped Lance’s jaw, opening his mouth with his. The soft sounds of their kissing mixing well with the rain on the roof of the car, and the low radio playing, just loud enough for Lance to hear the melody of the smooth rock tune. It was even  _ better _ in the car, with Shiro on top of him…

 

Shiro pulled away slightly and peppered his chin and jaw with kisses. He nuzzled into Lance’s neck and kissed at his neck before sucking a small mark onto his skin. “Why do you have to tease me?” Shiro sighed after, grazing his neck with his mouth and nose. 

 

_ Fuck _ … Lance gasped quietly and tilted his head back, exposing his neck for Shiro. He was fine with this, but he wondered just how far they could go. Shiro didn't seem like the type to fuck on the first date, but then again, he didn't actually know if he was or not. He'd find out though. “I teased you? Because I made you wait five minutes to kiss me? When I’ve been crushing hard on you—”

 

“You think you didn’t drive me crazy too?… You make me jealous when you flirt with customers… But then you’d turn around and flirt with me,” Shiro muttered, grimacing and dropping his head against Lance’s shoulder, his elbows holding his chest up just enough that he didn’t squish Lance entirely. “I didn’t know what you were trying to do, and I didn’t want to tell you that I liked you,”

 

“Why not?” 

 

“I-I don’t know if you feel the same way—”

 

Lance raised a brow. “Don’t or  _ Didn’t _ ?”

 

“Don’t?..” Shiro hesitated. “You flirt with everyone, why would I have thought differently? I felt like I noticed it even more when I realized how I started to feel about you, and it made me think maybe I wasn’t the only one…”

 

Lance blinked and froze in place. He didn’t really think of that, didn’t think Shiro noticed or cared about him flirting with others. It never seemed like he noticed. Most of it was just for business anyway, Lance  _ really _ only thought he flirted with Shiro. “I never flirted with anyone like I do with you. I constantly text you or call you— Because I like being with  _ you _ . I know I like  **_you._ ** I have for over a month.”

 

Shiro sat up between his legs and rubbed at his neck shyly. “Over a month?”

 

Lance nodded.

 

“... let me take you home.” He lifted off of Lance and climbed into the driver seat. 

 

Lance leaned up on his elbow and creased his brow. “Home already?..” he frowned.

 

“My home... Our date still isn't over, right?” He smiled at Lance feebly from the rear view mirror. Lance sighed in relief and climbed into the front seat. 

 

“I was about to ask you that… You had me worried for a second I was a bad kisser or something and wanted to get rid of me already…” Lance’s cheeks flushed and he wiped at his own mouth with the back of his hand absently. 

 

Shiro’s cheeks turned red and he shook his head.“N-No, you aren't a bad kisser at all. I just think we should dry off and get somewhere more comfortable than the back seat of my car,”

 

“Okay…” It was a few more minutes before Lance said anything else, he was paying attention to which direction they were going, the rain falling in heavy sheets on the windshield made it somewhat hard to see the street names. “..I wouldn’t have guessed you actually liked me the same way, y’know.. I thought you were just being nice to me like everyone else. I couldn’t tell the difference.”

 

“Fair enough…” Shiro murmured, turning into a driveway. The house was probably smaller than Lance had almost expected, a small garage door, a decent porch wrapped around the front, with two windows and a door nearing the side of the garage. It was…homey looking. More so than Lance and Hunk’s place, at least that’s what Lance thought. Shiro took his keys out of the ignition. “Ready?”

 

“You think I’m scared of a little bit of rain?” Lance snickered. “Do I get to open your door or what?” 

 

“If you want to stand in the rain for that second longer, then sure, go for it…” Shiro grinned and nudged him. “I’ll thank you for your courtesy with a kiss.” 

 

“ _ Oh, _ well now you’re twisting my arm for it.” Lance teased and opened his door, the chill of rain getting his skin again but he ran over to the other side in a mad dash to open Shiro’s door. Shiro sat in the car for four seconds longer laughing at him. Lance just glared. It wouldn’t have been so funny if it wasn’t raining so hard— now Lance was certainly soaked.

 

“You’re really serious about it, I admire that!” He chuckled, finally climbing out of the car. He grabbed Lance by his cheeks and kissed him in the rain again. Lance smiled against the warm set of lips, balling his fists up in Shiro’s shirt to tug him closer against him and leaning up into the kiss. He couldn’t get enough of the feel of Shiro’s lips on his, how warm and soft they were. It wasn’t the rain melting him, it was  _ Shiro. _

 

Shiro pulled away and tugged Lance under the porch with him to get out of the rain. He unlocked his front door and gestured Lance inside. “Let’s get dried off, Love. I’ll let you borrow some of my clothes.” 

 

_ Love…  _ Lance tried not to over think that. He looked around noticing the light color on the wall, clean floors… Just a pair of shoes under a table near the door in the small entrance hallway leading to the open living room straight ahead. Where that had a high ceiling and a half wall to the left, that guided to another hallway. The half wall was decorated with potted plants and a fleur de lis in the center.  _ Fancy, _ Lance thought. Even though it wasn’t really all that much, but he and Hunk hardly ever decorated anything. They didn’t have anything on their walls really, so this was different already. Shiro kicked his wet shoes off and put them under the table next to the other pair before he turned and walked to the other hall. 

 

“You can leave your shoe’s there if you want,”

 

Lance stopped mid-step, and blinked down at his wet shoes. Guess he should do that, he would already be tracking enough water in his house anyways. He left his shoes next to Shiro’s and followed Shiro down the left hall to a small bathroom. “Nice place…” He muttered, peeking into the dim room straight across from the bathroom. Couldn’t see much, but he could tell there were clothes all over the floor, some even spilling out from the doorway as well. “You live with someone or?…” 

 

Shiro glanced to where he was looking while grabbing towels off of a rack. “That’s Keith’s room, not mine.”

 

_ Oh, thank god… _ Shiro wasn’t a slob… But Keith? Lance pursed his lips. “Wait, Keith-Keith? Or a different Keith— Who are we talking about here?”

 

“Yeah, Keith-Keith,” Shiro chuckled when he repeated it. “Keith from the shop, he’s my brother.” He stepped over to Lance and draped a towel over his head, drying his hair off for him. Lance blinked, surprised, mostly by Shiro taking his time to dry  _ him _ off first. How sweet… He watched Shiro dry his hair and behind his ears, enjoying how gentle Shiro was with him. 

 

“So he  _ is _ your brother. . .”

 

Shiro nodded and draped the towel around Lance’s neck after fluffing Lance’s hair up wildly with the towel. Lance scrunched his nose and punched Shiro lightly in the arm for mussing his hair up. He’d had cowlicks for days now- “Yeah, you didn’t guess?” Shiro stepped past Lance out of the door and to the other door in the hall, flicking the light on and walking out of view for a second.

 

“Not exactly… I heard the rumor first.” Lance muttered, watching the doorway he disappeared into, trying to fix his hair. He debated following into the room…  _ That _ was Shiro’s room for sure… And with the light on and door open, he could see it was definitely cleaner than Keith’s damned messy room. ..He was going to tease Keith about the next time he saw him for sure. Probably get 50 million questions of  _ Why Were You In My House _ from Keith. Heh. He wondered what his reaction would be if he told him he fucked his brother in his room— but Keith probably wouldn’t believe it anyways. Not sure anyone would. With Shiro?  _ No way… _

 

Shiro hummed and stepped back out holding a pair of clean, dry clothes. “You’re okay with this? T-shirt and sweatpants?”

 

Lance nodded and took the clothes from him. “I don’t know if the sweatpants are going to stay on my flat ass…” He snickered. “Gimme a pair of your boxers, or should I steal something from Keith’s.” He said, handing back the sweatpants.  

 

“Good luck finding anything  _ clean _ in Keith’s room…” Shiro rolled his eyes.

 

“He probably doesn’t have anything cute anyways… He never comes to work in anything cute.”

 

“Dunno what your definition of cute is for clothes, but probably not… I’ve got something that should stay on your ass, though…” Shiro chuckled and stepped back into his room. Lance bit his lip thinkingly before stepping into the doorway, glancing around. Shiro was digging in his dresser against the wall, and his eyes trailed over to the bed in the middle of the far wall. He’s seen glimpses of Shiro’s bed, and his bathroom… Different seeing it in person for the first time. Now he could see where every picture Shiro’s taken was. It was interesting. He knew Shiro had his own bathroom too, that must’ve been the part he didn’t peek to see past the door, and he didn’t want to open the door completely and be too nosey.

 

“Here, briefs. Should fit on your butt better. Sorry if they aren’t cute.” He tossed it a black pair over to Lance. “You can change in my bathroom if you want.”

 

“Not cute, but kinda hot because they don’t belong to me, so good enough.” Lance stepped in and glanced to the right that was out of view from behind the door. “I’ll be out in a sec.” He walked to Shiro’s bathroom and left the door cracked open just barely before flicking the light on. This is the bathroom he’s seen from Shiro’s selfies… Big mirror, nice sink. Cluttered with a few of Shiro’s products. Eyeliner, mascara. . .  _ No wonder _ he had the loveliest lashes… He tossed the towel on the counter and stripped out of his wet shirt and binder— that was a  **_bitch_ ** to get out of while wet. He regretted wearing this particular one, of course that was his luck.. He must have been grunting and cursing more than he realized because Shiro tapped a finger on the door. 

 

“You alright in there?”

 

_ Urk. _ “I’m fine!” He gasped when he finally pulled it off and over his head. “Got stuck in my binder, that’s all.”

 

“Could’ve helped,” Shiro said, his voice sounding a bit more distant from the door now.

 

Lance swallowed and blushed brightly at the idea of Shiro helping him take his binder off, not sure how it would have made him feel. Hot idea, but his self-consciousness would have ruined the moment if there had been one… He pulled Shiro’s shirt on and blinked at himself in the mirror. It was big on him, draping nearly to his thighs, but it was nice on him, Lance thought… Probably not as nice as it was on Shiro, though… He had more of the masculinity to fill it out better. Lance cleared his throat and shook his head at himself before he could turn his thinking into anything else. Kicking his wet clothes and his packer aside now that he was in drier ones. Surely Shiro wouldn’t care about the flaccid penis on his bathroom floor for a bit… “Hey Shiro, you have a dryer?” He asked, opening the door and stepping out. Shiro was changed now too, sitting on the edge of his fluffy gray bed. Same plain t-shirt Lance had on and the sweatpants he refused. 

 

Shiro tilted his head slightly, eying Lance before he nodded. “Yeah, I’ll get it.” 

 

Lance climbed in the bed next to him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pecking his cheek lightly. “You don’t have to get it yet… We’re on a date remember? Let’s watch movies and cuddle, and eat junk food. We can watch romance movies and reenact the scenes.” 

 

Shiro snickered. “That is a good idea… Have you done that before?”

 

“Nope, read it on Pinterest's 50 date ideas.” Lance grinned and he flopped back into the plush blanket, sprawling his bare legs across Shiro’s lap. Shiro’s room smelled nice- like him. Comforting and manly— or whatever- Lance couldn’t explain it, but it was entirely  _ Shiro _ . Shiro even had plants in his room too, he must’ve liked plants. He had fern by his window next to a tall fancy DVD rack, the kind with the curve, and a hanging plant- Lance wasn’t sure what it was exactly, nearest the door. A decent sized plasma tv in the corner, his dresser in the opposite corner… His eyes trailed everywhere, taking in Shiro’s tastes. It was different than his, more classical feeling, almost…

 

Shiro patted his thighs gently. “Wanna stay in my room or go to the living room?”

 

Lance hummed and pursed his lips, looking upwards. “Wow, that’s a toughie… Let me weigh the pros and cons first.” He tapped his chin, thinking. “Let’s go with the living room, on the couch.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, 1. This chapter may or may not have a second part. 2. If it does or doesn't, the next chapter is definitely going to be nsfw either route I decide to take with this. Seeing how the date ends/ couple days after the date or somethin. . . *cough* 
> 
> 3\. I just want to apologize for the quality of this chapter(especially the end my good god...)  
> I'm _suffering._   
>  Thanks hobby lobby. :','',')<:;;;;:[]xx[]

**Author's Note:**

> Lance is 19 for this fic, same age as yours truly because I need a kid that's relatable. Pidge is also going to be older than Lance in this fic if you can get down with that. Her and Keith are two aces who hate the fuck out of their awkward job lol. 
> 
> Also, if you're familiar with my previous work,s like WYSI, and my collab with @winter-and-little-brunettes, Dolorosa, then you know that my stuff _can_ get pretty lengthy, sooo, we'll see!


End file.
